Sōkaiya (総会屋) (sometimes also translated as "corporate bouncers", "meeting-men", or "corporate blackmailers") are specializedracketeers unique toJapan, and often associated with theyakuza, whoextort money from orblackmail companies by threatening to publiclyhumiliate companies and their management, usually in their annual meeting (総会,sōkai).
If a company does paysōkaiya, thesōkaiya will work to prevent others from embarrassing the company, either through intimidation or by disrupting the meeting so they cannot be heard.
The number ofsōkaiya has decreased over the years, and in 2023 there were only about 150sōkaiya, of whom 30 worked in groups and 120 worked alone.[1]
Sōkaiya originated in the late19th century. At this time, the unlimited liability of the management put the managers' personal fortune at risk in case of rumors and scandals. Hence the management hired protection, calledsōkaiya, to reduce the risk of such rumors. Even after the Japanese laws included a limited liability, hence reducing the personal risk to the managers, thesesōkaiya continued to prosper, and were often used to quiet down otherwise difficult meetings. In that respect, they have even been compared tocorporate lawyers in America.[2]
In 1984, the law made first steps to reduce the threat fromsōkaiya by establishing a minimum number of holdings (¥50,000) in order to be allowed into the shareholder meeting, leading to a slow decline of the number ofsōkaiya. In response to this, thesōkaiya formed fakeuyoku dantai, announcing embarrassing company secrets, fictional or not, from loudspeakers mounted on trucks in order to extort money from companies.[2]
In 1994,Juntarō Suzuki, vice president ofFujifilm, was murdered bysōkaiya after he stopped paying these bribes.[3]
Individualsōkaiya acquire enough stock from multiple companies in order to gain entrance to ashareholders' meeting. There, they disrupt the meeting (and embarrass the company) until their demands are met. For this, thesōkaiya often research the company in detail beforehand to uncover incidents of misconduct or other company secrets, and then blackmail the management so that these issues are not raised in the shareholder meeting or elsewhere. Often, they also invent fictional issues that the company would have difficulty disproving.
Modernsōkaiya have developed other, similar methods to accomplish their goals. One less subtle example is thebanzai sōkaiya, who disrupt business places with their cries of"Banzai!" and praise of theEmperor until they are quietly paid to leave.
Sōkaiya also form fake groups, announcing embarrassing company secrets, fictional or not, from loudspeakers mounted on trucks in order to extort money from companies.[2] They may also print special newspapers with topics embarrassing to companies, and then ask the company to buy the entire print at inflated prices, or even to subscribe to these newspapers, generating a steady flow of cash.
Sōkaiya have also been used by companies to drown out questions from legitimate shareholders which company officials do not want presented. One infamous case is related toMinamata disease (mercury poisoning), where theChisso chemicals company managed to close a number of annual meetings within minutes, despite the presence of hundreds of protesters at the meetings. They have also been active against anti-war protesters and other people who may be viewed as a nuisance by the company at a particular time.
Article 968 of the Japanese corporations code prohibitssōkaiya activity, imposing imprisonment of no more than five years or a fine of no more than ¥5 million for "receiving, demanding or promising a proprietary benefit with regard to" statements or the exercise of voting rights at a shareholder or creditor meeting.
A practical countermeasure used by large corporations is to hold all shareholder meetings on the same day, sosōkaiya cannot disrupt all of them.[citation needed]
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While in the West a shareholders' meeting is usually an earnest discussion between the shareholders and the management, in Japan it is often more of a ceremony, and the management does not feel the need to truly inform shareholders.[4] In this atmosphere, thesōkaiya are able to prosper. However, with the trend for morederegulation in the Japanese market the business environment forsōkaiya is getting more and more difficult.
Major Japanese companies that have been found guilty of employingsōkaiya include but are not limited to:
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