The number of seizures in Japan of imported counterfeit goods was down slightly, but remained high.
The Finance Ministry says customs officers nationwide stopped 26,942 cases in 2022. The number is down 4.7 percent from the previous year, but topped the 26,000 mark for the third-straight year.
More than three-quarters of the incidents involved items from China.
As for the types of items, bags topped the list, accounting for 28.1 percent of all cases. That was followed by clothing at 21.7 percent and shoes at 13.3 percent.
The ministry estimates the value of the seized fake imports at more than 18 billion yen, or around 137 million dollars.
The officials say many of the goods were related to the World Cup soccer tournament in Qatar.
They also noted a rise in the number of fake cartridges for use in a water purifier made by a major Japanese company.