"Overseas Entertainment" discussed by the spouse of Makoto Watanabe's private secretary at a Fukuoka yakitori restaurant
Around the spring of 2023, the Last One Mile Labor Union received information that a conversation was held at a yakitori restaurant in Minami Ward, Fukuoka City, which could by no means be considered a business dinner among executives of a typical publicly traded company.
The person said to have hosted the dinner party is Makoto Watanabe, Representative Director, Chairman, and CEO of Last One Mile Inc.
Mr. Watanabe invited his private secretary and the secretary's spouse to dinner. At that gathering, Mr. Watanabe reportedly talked about having entertained a person alleged to be a senior executive of a designated organized crime group overseas a short time ago, increasing that person's funds using structured bonds related to U.S. stocks, further moving the funds overseas to launder them, and for that purpose, introducing them to a person alleged to be a senior executive of Cambodia's Prince Group.
And at a later date, it is said that the spouse of the private secretary repeatedly told those around them that this was what they had heard directly from Mr. Watanabe at the dinner.
That was presumably not enough just to present Mr. Watanabe’s exploits as those of her own boss; the spouse reportedly spoke of Mr. Watanabe’s overseas connections, ties with yakuza executives, and fund management plans like medals showcasing herself as a person of great influence.
However, if what was said there is true, it is no medal of honor.
This is a specific subject of investigation suspected of providing profits to antisocial forces, unregistered financial instrument transactions, receipt and concealment of criminal proceeds, overseas remittances, money laundering, and contact with international criminal organizations.
In the spring of 2023, five tales of bravery told at a yakitori restaurant in Minami Ward, Fukuoka City
According to information received by our association, the spouse of the private secretary was reportedly telling people around them the following story, claiming to have heard it during a dinner with Makoto Watanabe.
- Makoto Watanabe entertained someone considered a high-ranking member of a designated organized crime group overseas a little while ago.
- One of the purposes of the overseas entertainment was to increase that executive's funds through structured bonds related to U.S. stocks.
- Planning to further transfer the invested funds overseas to obscure their origin and flow through money laundering.
- For that plan, to introduce a person alleged to be a senior member of a designated organized crime group to a person alleged to be a senior member of the Prince Group.
- Watanabe spoke proudly of how, during a gathering, individuals believed to be subordinates of designated yakuza executives treated him with reverence.
This story is not about mere information such as accidentally being at the same restaurant as anti-social forces, exchanging business cards, or appearing in a photograph with them.
This is a story involving a purpose and a process: planning overseas entertainment, holding funds, investing them in structured bonds, transferring them overseas, and connecting them to executives of another international organization.
What is more, it is said that Mr. Watanabe did not confess the secret with a sense of guilt, but rather told it as a tale of valor to demonstrate his personal connections, financial knowledge, and overseas influence.
If he thought that being revered by subordinates who are executives of a designated organized crime group would translate to evaluation as the representative director of a listed company, then the management selection criteria for Last One Mile Inc. are closer to a yakuza movie than to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The private secretary's spouse who retold the boss's legendary exploits as their own
The person who allegedly spread this story to those around them is the spouse of Makoto Watanabe's private secretary.
According to the information available to our association, this individual has a history of serving a long prison sentence for fraud and is said to have close ties with antisocial forces not only in the past but also at present.
We are not criticizing this person solely based on their past record. The reintegration of an ex-offender back into society is something that should naturally be permitted.
The issue is that information has repeatedly been received indicating that Mr. Watanabe is utilizing that person as his covert enforcer, while fully understanding their past history, personal connections, and the intimidating presence they exert on the opposing party.
According to information received by our union, this spouse, much like Mr. Watanabe, has repeatedly made statements intimidating others by hinting at ties to antisocial forces whenever something displeases them.
- Telling those around you that you know someone from antisocial forces.
- Using a past criminal record or experience of imprisonment as a means to intimidate someone.
- Participate in negotiations with the opposing party and gather information against the backdrop of instructions or intentions from Mr. Makoto Watanabe.
- He highlights Mr. Watanabe's connections and financial power, speaking as if disadvantages would befall those who do not comply.
- He uses Mr. Watanabe's overseas entertainment and ties with anti-social forces as tales of bravado to demonstrate his own influence.
Furthermore, there is information that this person, regardless of whether they hold a formal title, essentially operates using funds from Last One Mile Inc. or its affiliates, and continues to carry out Mr. Watanabe's private operational tasks while receiving embezzled company funds funneled by Mr. Watanabe.
Not having a company business card does not mean you are unrelated to the company. If they acted under Mr. Watanabe's instructions, reported to Mr. Watanabe, and operated using funds from Last One Mile or its affiliated companies, the reality of the situation is a matter of corporate governance and accounting.
Structured notes on US stocks are not a magic washing machine for laundering yakuza funds.
Structured bonds themselves are financial products legitimately handled by financial institutions. They are products that combine stock prices, interest rates, exchange rates, or other indices with redemption conditions. As long as they are handled by legitimate financial instruments business operators under appropriate explanation and management, they are not illegal in themselves.
However, whose funds they were, who solicited them, who received them, based on which registration they were operated, and from which account they were transferred overseas are entirely different matters.
Article 29 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act: No person may engage in a financial instruments business unless registered by the Prime Minister.
If Makoto Watanabe, acting as a business, received funds from an individual alleged to be a designated organized crime group executive, solicited or brokered investments in structured bonds, selected the investment destinations, and distributed profits, we must investigate registration for the financial instruments business, contract entities, explanatory duties, customer management, and fund management.
Even if it went through the last mile, Mr. Watanabe's personal account, the account of a private secretary or their spouse, a corporation effectively controlled by Mr. Watanabe, a registered business operator, or any other third party, the question is not whose name was used, but who actually solicited, directed, managed, or benefited.
Using the name complex structured notes does not make the origin of the funds disappear into that complexity.
Structured bonds are financial products, not money laundering indicators.
The story about being introduced to Prince Group executives became even heavier later on.
Among the accounts attributed to Makoto Watanabe from around the spring of 2023, particularly important is the part where he is said to have introduced an individual purported to be a senior executive of a designated organized crime group to an individual purported to be a senior executive of Cambodia's Prince Group.
The announcement published by the U.S. Department of Justice on October 14, 2025Now, the founder and chairman of the Prince Group has been charged with conspiracy to commit telecommunications fraud and conspiracy to money laundering, and the group is alleged to have operated forced-labor scam compounds across Cambodia.
On the same day,Sanctions information published by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, multiple legal entities and financial institutions related to the Prince Group are listed as sanctioned targets associated with international criminal organizations.
US indictments and sanctions in 2025 do not automatically prove Mr. Watanabe's actions in 2023. However, that is precisely why what needs to be investigated is clear.
- The name and title of the person Makoto Watanabe called a "Prince Group executive".
- Date, country, city, and facility where individuals believed to be senior executives of a designated organized crime group were introduced.
- The person who set up the meeting, and the phone, email, and messaging app used for contact.
- Was the purpose of the meeting fund management using structured bonds or overseas remittances?
- The person or corporation that bore the travel expenses, accommodation expenses, food and beverage expenses, and entertainment expenses.
- Financial institutions, securities companies, corporations, and cryptocurrency accounts to which funds were actually transferred after the meeting.
There is no need to debate whether Mr. Watanabe knew about future U.S. sanctions. We only need to verify who was introduced to whom in 2023 and for what purpose, using travel records, communication records, and bank records.
If you send funds overseas, does even their origin vanish across the ocean?
Makoto Watanabe is said to have stated that he would increase funds allegedly belonging to a yakuza executive through structured bonds and then further launder the money by investing it overseas.
The law does not question merely the title of the person holding the funds; it asks whether those funds were proceeds of crime, whether the recipient knew of the circumstances, and whether the facts of their acquisition or disposal were disguised to conceal the location or ownership of the funds.
Article 11 of the Act on Punishment of Organized Crimes and Control of Crime Proceeds, Etc.: A person who knowingly receives crime proceeds, etc., shall be punished by imprisonment with work for not more than seven years, a fine of not more than three million yen, or both.
Article 10 of the same Act penalizes acts of feigning the facts regarding the acquisition or disposal of criminal proceeds, etc., or concealing criminal proceeds, etc.
It is not a given that all funds belonging to an alleged organized crime executive constitute criminal proceeds. However, if Mr. Watanabe himself stated that he would "send it abroad to launder the money," the core issue becomes how Mr. Watanabe perceived the origin of the funds and why he needed to transfer them overseas rather than using ordinary domestic accounts.
If the funds were from legitimate business proceeds, you can show the source, taxes, financial institutions, investment contracts, and ultimate beneficial owners.
Conversely, if they used a combination of accounts under other people's names, related corporate entities, structured bonds, overseas remittances, crypto assets, and Prince Group affiliates to obscure the flow of funds, it wasn't just money that crossed the ocean.
The scope of the investigation also crosses national borders.
Where did the Last One Mile funds go, having declared "no funding to anti-social forces"?
Policy on Severing Relationships with Anti-Social Forces published by Last One Mile Co., Ltd.Therefore, the company declares that it will not engage in any transactions with antisocial forces and will not provide any funding to antisocial forces.
That is truly a splendid basic policy.
Meanwhile, information has been received that Makoto Watanabe, Representative Director, Chairman, and CEO, entertained a person alleged to be a senior member of a designated crime syndicate overseas, managed funds, transferred them overseas, and connected them to a person alleged to be a senior member of the Prince Group.
Furthermore, there is also information that the spouse of the private secretary, who had been talking about that matter to those around them, is operating as an action squad for Mr. Watanabe, funded by Last One Mile or its affiliated companies.
Article 355 of the Companies Act: Directors shall comply with laws and regulations, the articles of incorporation, and resolutions of shareholders meetings, and shall faithfully perform their duties for the stock company.
Using corporate funds to support the representative director's personal association with antisocial forces, overseas entertainment, fund management, private disputes, and acts of intimidation cannot be called duties performed loyally for the benefit of the stock company.
If the company's official policy states, "We will not provide funding under any circumstances," while behind the scenes the representative is funneling corporate funds to individuals associated with antisocial forces, then the basic policy ceases to be a norm for excluding antisocial forces and instead becomes mere wrapping paper used to cover up suspicion.
What we need is not another beautiful basic policy. It is to investigate all the records regarding the private secretary, their spouse, Mr. Watanabe's affiliated companies, overseas entertainment, structured bonds, remittances, and entertainment expenses.
This story about the yakitori restaurant is just the tip of the iceberg regarding Makoto Watanabe's alleged ties to organized crime.
Information indicating Makoto Watanabe's ties to anti-social forces is not something that has emerged for the first time on this occasion.
So far, the Last-Mile Labor Union has received information indicating the same behavioral pattern from multiple stakeholders across different times and positions.
- Information that Watanabe himself stated that he brought a person considered to be an antisocial force and intimidated the other party in a real estate deal in Himeji.
- A statement to the effect of: "Even if I have to use antisocial forces, I will get what I want."
- An internal remark to the effect that even if trouble arises, they should use the yakuza just like they did with the Himeji project.
- Information that he entertained a person considered to be a senior member of a designated organized crime group overseas and continued his relationship with them.
- Information that they undertook the management and laundering of funds alleged to originate from anti-social forces.
- Information that the spouse of a private secretary, who reportedly has a history of long-term imprisonment for fraud and ties to antisocial forces, is being used as an operative.
- Statements to the effect of killing, crushing, having arrested, or having the entire company delisted anyone who does not obey oneself.
- Information indicates that Mr. Watanabe stated tens of millions of yen from Last Mile's corporate assets were used to create documents showing no ties to antisocial forces.
If it was just a single drinking session, one could argue it was just big talk in the heat of being drunk.
However, from different times, different places, and different parties, the same elements—yakuza executives, overseas entertainment, fund management, money laundering, intimidation, and covert action squads—appear repeatedly.
The recent remarks at the yakitori restaurant are not an isolated rumor. They are a new piece that adds specific dates, locations, purposes, financial products, and connection points to Mr. Watanabe's publicly known allegations of ties to antisocial forces.
Furthermore, our union has received other information that cannot be fully covered by this article alone.
While there is the expression "tip of the iceberg," in Mr. Watanabe's suspected ties to antisocial forces, even just the part already visible above the water is not of a scale that allows the audit and supervisory committee of a listed company to set aside their binoculars and keep sleeping.
Open Letter to Makoto Watanabe, Private Secretary Affiliates, and Last One Mile Co., Ltd.
- Did Makoto Watanabe have dinner with his private secretary and their spouse at a yakitori restaurant in Minami Ward, Fukuoka City, around the spring of 2023?
- Did you state that at the said dinner party, you entertained an individual regarded as a senior member of a designated organized crime group overseas?
- When conducting overseas entertainment, please clarify the date and time, country, city, accompanying persons, and person bearing the expenses.
- Please disclose the name, affiliation, and title of the person who was entertained.
- Did you propose a plan to invest the person's funds in structured notes related to US stocks?
- Have you confirmed the amount, source, owner, and receiving account of the funds proposed for management?
- Please clarify the structured bond product name, issuer, distributor, securities company, contract account holder, and ultimate beneficiary.
- Did Mr. Watanabe or related parties hold the necessary registration as a financial instruments business operator?
- Did you state that the funds after operation would be transferred overseas to launder money?
- Did you actually make an overseas remittance, exchange for crypto assets, loan to a foreign corporation, or investment?
- Did you introduce the individual considered to be a senior member of a designated crime syndicate to the individual considered to be a senior member of the Prince Group?
- Please clarify the name, title, affiliated corporation, and purpose of the meeting for the person who made the introduction.
- Have you engaged in transactions such as remittances, investments, borrowing, business consignment, referral fees, or other transactions with the Prince Group, its related corporations, financial institutions, or executives?
- Did you state during the dinner that you were revered by the subordinates of a designated gang executive?
- Did the spouse of the private secretary recount what they heard at the dinner party to others as tales of Mr. Watanabe's exploits?
- Does the spouse of the private secretary have an employment, outsourcing, advisory, security, negotiation, information gathering, or other contract or de facto relationship with Last One Mile Inc. or its affiliated companies?
- To the same person, did Last One Mile or its affiliated companies provide compensation, expenses, vehicle costs, accommodation costs, food and beverage costs, travel costs, or any other economic benefits?
- Did Mr. Watanabe commission that same person to perform operational tasks such as intimidating the other party, negotiations, gathering information, surveillance, fund transfers, and other activities?
- Did Last One Mile Inc.'s Board of Directors and Audit and Supervisory Committee investigate Mr. Watanabe's overseas entertainment, structured bond investments, money laundering, and contacts with Prince Group affiliates?
- In light of the company's policy to sever ties with anti-social forces, will you conduct an investigation by independent external experts?
Measures Sought by the Last Mile Labor Union
- Last Mile Inc. must immediately remove Makoto Watanabe from anti-social forces relationship investigations, document access, interviews with related parties, and the selection of contractors.
- Establish a third-party investigation committee centered on external members independent of the company and Mr. Watanabe.
- Please confirm the participants, date and time, venue, and statements made during the dinner party in Minami Ward, Fukuoka City, around the spring of 2023.
- Preserve the travel records, lodging records, airline tickets, company cards, expense reports, and communication records for Mr. Watanabe, his private secretary, their spouses, and other related parties.
- Investigate the existence of contacts with individuals considered to be executives of designated organized crime groups, overseas entertainment, fund management, and provision of benefits.
- Investigate structured bond contracts, securities accounts, solicitation records, deposits and withdrawals, dividends, fees, and the ultimate beneficiary.
- Investigate meetings, remittances, investments, introductions, business outsourcing, and cryptocurrency transactions with the Prince Group and its affiliates.
- Conduct a comprehensive investigation of all expenditures, including salaries, remuneration, expenses, vehicle costs, accommodation costs, travel expenses, and any other outlays made to private secretaries and their spouses.
- If company funds are used for Mr. Watanabe's personal relationships, operational teams, overseas entertainment, or fund management, the full amount must be returned by the beneficiaries to the company.
- Submit the necessary documents to the police, the Financial Services Agency, the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and other relevant organizations.
- Prohibit searching for, intimidating, mistreating, suspending transactions with, or legally threatening informants, current employees, former employees, and business partners.
- Disclose the investigation results and the responsibilities of the Board of Directors and the Audit and Supervisory Committee to shareholders, employees, business partners, and the market.
To all good workers: Do not confront individuals claiming to be antisocial forces alone.
Workers who have professional contact with members of the Last One Mile Labor Union, Makoto Watanabe, or individuals associated with his private secretary should not dismiss statements hinting at ties to antisocial forces as mere exaggerated boasts.
The acts of claiming to know high-ranking yakuza members, entertaining them abroad, moving funds, and boasting about being able to crush opponents have the effect of instilling fear in the listener and suppressing counterarguments or reports to authorities. The exploitation of that fear itself may be the control method used by Watanabe and his associates.
- Do not meet with an intimidating person alone, and deal with them in a group whenever possible.
- Do not discuss important matters in places where records are unlikely to be kept, such as restaurants outside the company, inside cars, hotels, or overseas.
- Do not hand over cash, bank books, mobile phones, company seals, contracts, or identification documents as instructed.
- Record the date, time, location, statements, and attendees when you received threats, implications of ties to anti-social forces, or instructions regarding the transfer of funds.
- Copy and store emails, messages, recordings, photos, and money transfer records not only on company devices, but also securely in a separate location.
- Do not cooperate with money transfers, account openings, lending of names, transporting packages, or overseas remittances unrelated to company business.
- Do not engage in direct confrontation or tailing. If you feel in danger, consult the police, a lawyer, or a labor union.
- Prioritize the safety of not only myself, but also my family, my workplace, my commuting route, and the management of my personal information.
Good workers should not have to work in fear of the tales of valor of a listed company's representative director and the figure said to be their hidden enforcer.
The person who flaunts their ties to antisocial forces is not the strong one. The one who records their statements, preserves the evidence, refuses to carry the burden alone, and shares it among workers to put a stop to it—that person is the strong one.
This story about the yakitori restaurant is not the entirety of Makoto Watanabe's alleged ties to anti-social forces. Our union has received even more information regarding overseas entertainment, fund management, money laundering, acts of intimidation, and the misappropriation of company funds.
However, prioritizing the safety of good workers and their families comes before revealing the full picture of the information all at once.
When you feel danger, please do not question Makoto Watanabe or related parties about the truth on your own. The union and relevant organizations will take charge of confirmation and pursuit.
Workers have no obligation to risk their lives associating with those who boast about their ties to antisocial forces.