At his store in Tokyo's ritzy Ginza district, Hajime Sasaki displays a disparate array of wares, from chopsticks to Buddha statues -- including many made of ivory.

International trade in elephant ivory is illegal, but Japan hosts one of the world's largest remaining legal domestic markets for the product, which can only be bought and sold within its borders.

It is fed with stockpiles of ivory imported before the international ban more than 30 years ago, or bought in one-off government auctions.

But conservationists warn Japan's ivory often leaks overseas, fuelling black market trade, while driving demand and undermining bans in countries like China.

Sasaki's shop displays pamphlets in Chinese and English explaining that ivory cannot be taken abroad, but he still "receives many Chinese

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