Press Release

Tokyo, Japan – June 30, 2021 Tokyo, Japan – July 1, 2021 A report is released today by the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF): “Dark Side of the Everlasting Tortoiseshell-Crafting in Japan”. The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is one of the seven species of sea turtles and is listed as “Critically Endangered” (CR) in the IUCN Red List. One of the major threats to hawksbills is illegal take for the purpose of commercial trade in its tortoiseshell; used exclusively as a raw material for crafts called “bekko zaiku (crafts)” in Japan. Japan was famously the world’s largest country importing tortoiseshell. All populations of hawksbill turtles were listed in Appendix I of the “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species…

May 31, 2021 TOKYO—WWF, TRAFFIC and Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF) released today a report: ”SHELL SHOCKED: JAPAN’S ROLE IN THE ILLEGAL TORTOISESHELL TRADE”. It reveals that recently the tortoiseshell of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), has been increasingly smuggled into Japan. This active market in Japan of tortoiseshell crafts, called “Bekko craft” is contributing to the illegal international trade. Hawksbill turtles are one of the seven species of marine turtles and are listed as “Critically Endangered” (CR) in the IUCN Red List, After World War II, Japan grew to be the largest country importing tortoiseshell equivalent to tens of thousands of hawksbills every year. Japan bowed to international pressure and officially stopped importing hawksbill tortoiseshell in 1993, when more…

New Investigation by WildAid and the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund. Tokyo, Japan – March 26, 2021 A report released today by WildAid and the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF)­ documents ivory businesses in Tokyo targeting Chinese customers, who knowingly operate with the assumption that the purchased ivory items will eventually be exported, evading direct involvement in illegal export, and complying with the laws and regulations on domestic ivory trade. ‘TOKYO IVORY Catering to International Orders: An investigation behind the scenes of persistent illegal ivory exports’ https://www.jtef.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/WildAid_JTEF_JP.pdfdocuments undercover investigations conducted in 2018 and 2019 into two companies managed by Chinese nationals. The first company revealed that the ivory items bought by customers at its shop had been seized by…

TOKYO, JAPAN – Investigations of Japanese hanko retailers revealed that many are willing to sell an ivory product knowing that it will be exported internationally despite most being aware that ivory export is illegal. A new report by the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF) and the Washington, DC-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), Willing to Sell: Snapshot Investigations of Ivory Hanko Retailers in Japan, details results from two investigations into ivory hanko retailers. The main findings of the investigations, which took place in summer and fall of 2020, found: In three large urban areas in Japan, 38 percent of the retailers were willing to sell an ivory hanko knowing it would be illegally exported. In 2018, the same retailers had…

10/10/2019 JTEF and Yamaneko Patrol published a review on the nomination made by the government of Japan in January, 2019 of Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, the northern part of Okinawa Island and Iriomote Island for inscription on the World Heritage List. This report was developed for consideration by the experts of IUCN verification mission, ahead of their on-the-spot verification tour to Iriomote Island on October 11, 2019.