Niseko Shuttle Service Australian Arrested For Operating Without A Licence

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]Australian national Jeremy Churchill latched on to the tourism boom in Hokkaido by setting up a shuttle service called Skybus between the airport and ski resorts like Niseko. Over three seasons, his firm allegedly racked up sales of 40 million yen. The strong yen and weak global economy has sharply reduced business in the area but Churchill has other problems on his plate right now. He has just been arrested by Hokkaido police for operating an unlicensed transportation business. According to the Yomiuri, Churchill did get the necessary approvals last October but police are charging him for the time he ran the shuttle without permission, specifically between December 2007 and March 2008. Churchill says he was unaware he was breaking the law at the time.

[Sentakki Fried Chicken]

[floatr][/floatr]Over three seasons, his firm allegedly racked up sales of 40 million yen.

I am obviously in the wrong business....

[Yokohammer]

There must be a slump in the Hokkaido police business too.
You'd think they'd have more pressing matters to attend to.

[kurohinge1]

[floatr][/floatr]

. . . According to the Yomiuri, Churchill did get the necessary approvals last October but police are charging him for the time he ran the shuttle without permission, specifically between December 2007 and March 2008. Churchill says he was unaware he was breaking the law at the time.

Naughty FG! Lucky he told them of his oversight, otherwise they may never have realised!

I couldn't find the Yomiuri link/article. Did they seriously "arrest" him - or just issue him with a fine?

I notice that they also offer rental keitai - which is useful add on. Can anyone recommend places that do that in Kansai?

[Mulboyne]

I couldn't find the Yomiuri link/article. Did they seriously "arrest" him - or just issue him with a fine?

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20090218-OYT1T00585.htm?from=navr

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/society/147742.html

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/tohoku/hokkaido/090218/hkd0902181254001-n1.htm

http://mainichi.jp/hokkaido/shakai/news/20090218ddlk01040256000c.html

[Greji]

Naughty FG! Lucky he told them of his oversight, otherwise they may never have realised!

They were going to let him walk, but when he told them he was mates with kurohinge, they threw him in the slammer...

[kurohinge1]

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20090218-OYT1T00585.htm?from=navr

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/society/147742.html

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/tohoku/hokkaido/090218/hkd0902181254001-n1.htm

http://mainichi.jp/hokkaido/shakai/news/20090218ddlk01040256000c.html

That's a touch of overkill - the "arrest" that is, not the multiple links from Mulboyne-san - although Mr Churchill should've known that Japan would have a comparable system to his home country, which is quite strict on obtaining "TV" plates to run transport services.

I'd still love to hear about keitai rental in kansai if anyone knows anything about it.

[kurohinge1]

They were going to let him walk, but when he told them he was mates with kurohinge, they threw him in the slammer...

Now he can plead "insanity", as no one in their right mind would admit to being mates with me!

[GomiGirl]

That is a piss-poor excuse. People should be checking what licences they need to run a business as one of the first things - especially with a transport business.

Sounds like this guy just tried to slip under the radar and then plead ignorant when he got caught.

[Greji]

I'd still love to hear about keitai rental in kansai if anyone knows anything about it.

GG where you at? You know everything keitai, right?

[hu5h]

GG where you at? You know everything keitai, right?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=kansai+rental+cell+phone

but arent those pretty expensive? might aswell have someone sign you up for a prepaid phone.

[FG Lurker]

I'd still love to hear about keitai rental in kansai if anyone knows anything about it.

I haven't been down to KIX recently but they always used to have rentals available at the airport.

I imagine the costs are quite high though, both for the rental and for usage. It would probably be better to get a family member/friend/biz associate to arrange a prepaid phone instead. Or bring an unlocked phone and get a SIM from Softbank (Vodafone used to do this in Japan but now that it is Softbank I guess they may have discontinued it.)

[Mulboyne]

The odd thing about this story is why police are arresting him only now based on evidence dating back almost a year. When he eventually applied for his licence last year you would think the penny might have dropped that had been operating without one.

[SmokinJoe]

The odd thing about this story is why police are arresting him only now based on evidence dating back almost a year. When he eventually applied for his licence last year you would think the penny might have dropped that had been operating without one.

Jeremy is a close personal friend. Right now things are really messed up in Sapporo. I typed a long comment about the history of this whole case and the gross overreaction of the police in relation to this incident, but the forum chewed up my post Needless to say, he's a decent guy trying to make a living and there were circumstances (being fucked over by a Japanese bus company that was supposed to be helping him for one) that led him to being without a license for a short time. He rectified the situation as soon as he could, but given recent events -such as the police raid on 'Booty', a foreign owned nightspot, where the television crews actually turned up to film it before the police got there- that reeks of setup. Someone doesn't want foreigners being successful in this city.

[Mulboyne]

Jeremy is a close personal friend. Right now things are really messed up in Sapporo. I typed a long comment about the history of this whole case and the gross overreaction of the police in relation to this incident, but the forum chewed up my post Needless to say, he's a decent guy trying to make a living and there were circumstances (being fucked over by a Japanese bus company that was supposed to be helping him for one) that led him to being without a license for a short time. He rectified the situation as soon as he could, but given recent events -such as the police raid on 'Booty', a foreign owned nightspot, where the television crews actually turned up to film it before the police got there- that reeks of setup. Someone doesn't want foreigners being successful in this city.

Thanks for that. It does seem unlikely that a foreigner could operate unlicensed and unnoticed for over three seasons so it sounded like there must be more to it. After all, running buses at the airport with your logo painted on the side is not exactly operating undercover. If the mood takes you to try again with some additional details then I'm sure there'd be interest.

[SmokinJoe]

Yeah, there's two further points worth mentioning.

1. The 40 million yen figure is being grossly overplayed by the media (I guess big numbers make for better headlines, and really it's not even that much for a business operating for several years). Firstly it's just an estimate - I guarantee it because I've seen his accounts. And secondly, how much do you think a bus costs these days? He's bought vehicles as his company has grown, so that figure is irrelevant - he might have turned over a reasonable amount, but most of that has gone on setting up his small fleet.

2. Up until recently he'd focused almost entirely on foreign tourists coming into Sapporo and the ski resorts. Customers that a lot of the local bus companies wouldn't even want the hassle of dealing with. But he was just starting to make moves to attract more Japanese customers, partly because ski season is short and he wanted to build his business in the off-season. Hmmm... competing with the locals. Not good. How convenient that he should be arrested right now.

[wuchan]

Someone doesn't want foreigners being successful in this city.

just that city?

[Mulboyne]

The 40 million yen figure is being grossly overplayed by the media

That's inevitable. People anywhere in the world always want to know that kind of thing. Quite frankly, if he was doing a healthy business then good luck to him. I'm curious, though, that you suggested your friend might have been operating legally but was let down by another company which meant he took the risk of maintaining his business while he was trying to make other arrangements. Sometimes you can get away with that but, if you are caught, then you haven't got a reasonable defence. There may well be some disgruntled competitors who wanted to see the back of him but it seems like he made it easy for them if he ran his buses without a licence.

What seems like the best outcome right now? A fine and a chance to keep operating? Or is he facing the prospect of being closed down completely?

[kurohinge1]

Thank FGL, for the advice on the keitai. It sounds like the "outlaws" might be a better source than a rental place.

And thanks, SmokinJoe, for the background and a few facts on this case. I'm also interested to know the answers to Mulboyne's questions, above. Please feel free to update this thread whenever a development happens as I'm sure there's a few FGs who want to know how this matter is handled - and not just how it is reported.

BTW welcome aboard.

[TennoChinko]

Jeremy is a close personal friend. Right now things are really messed up in Sapporo. I typed a long comment about the history of this whole case and the gross overreaction of the police in relation to this incident, but the forum chewed up my post Needless to say, he's a decent guy trying to make a living and there were circumstances (being fucked over by a Japanese bus company that was supposed to be helping him for one) that led him to being without a license for a short time. He rectified the situation as soon as he could, but given recent events -such as the police raid on 'Booty', a foreign owned nightspot, where the television crews actually turned up to film it before the police got there- that reeks of setup. Someone doesn't want foreigners being successful in this city.

Here's my guess. It may not be necessarily anti-foreigner. I would look at his competition - taxi cab fleet and charter bus operators -- at least one of whom probably called in the cops.

[Mulboyne]

I was wondering the other day what happened to this operation. It looks like Churchill must have resolved his difficulties. In August, the company announced that an Australian developer had taken a stake in the business (PDF).