Japan: The dangers of pre-paid cards · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

An article at Jan-Jan describes the situation of people who bought pre-paid cards [ja] to use at Kakimoto Sekiyu, a company in Aomori Prefecture that went bankrupt and closed its gasoline stands on the 6th of this month. Customers who bought pre-paid cards in advance, some for as much as 100,000 – 200,000 yen [1000-2000 USD] have apparently now lost all their money, without any arrangements put in place to deal with the situation. Gasoline stands have been going bankrupt one after another in Aomori Prefecture in recent years, with Kakimoto Sekiyu the largest among them.