Big haul of fake goods seized by Japan customs

Japanese customs officers intercepted more than 15,000 counterfeit products headed into the country in the first half of this year. That's the biggest haul of pirated goods in three years.

The Finance Ministry says imports of fake brand goods were halted in 15,344 cases between January and June. That's up 18.7 percent year on year.

86 percent of the counterfeits were from China.

By category, fake brand clothing accounted for 4,663 cases. Wallets and purses followed at 4,626, and watches at 2,342.

There were also copies of Japanese-brand face masks and fake medals for the Tokyo Olympics.

The ministry attributes the spike partly to an increase in people shopping online as they stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic.