Kaminokawa Town in Tochigi Prefecture is located south of Utsunomiya City, the prefectural capital.

The town developed in the 1970s with the opening of the Nissan Motor Tochigi Plant, and in the 2000s, with the opening of the Kita-Kanto Expressway, it became a key transportation hub in northern Kanto.

It was in this town that a robbery and murder case committed by a Tokuryu (anonymous, mobile criminal group) occurred. Four high school students from Kanagawa Prefecture were arrested in connection with this case. They became involved in the crime after being invited by classmates.

Until now, Tokuryu typically recruited perpetrators through social media. This is what is known as “dark work.” Its origins lie in the “underground jobs” on anonymous bulletin boards such as “dark employment agencies” and “underground Hello Work” in the 1990s. Murder requests were made, and those who gathered would discuss criminal plans.

As social media became widespread and a primary means of recruiting perpetrators, robbery cases also increased. As a result, the police began using “virtual identity investigations,” or sting operations.

In response, Tokuryu also took countermeasures, ceasing overt recruitment on social media. They shifted to a method where they would connect with one person through some means, and that person would then contact acquaintances. The group involved in the Tochigi Prefecture case is one example of this.

The police have implemented various measures to deter crimes committed via social media. As a result, it has become difficult to create criminal networks on social media. Therefore, Tokuryu reverted to the classic method of tracing personal connections. The young people recruited were only informed shortly before the crime that they were actually going to commit a robbery, similar to traditional Tokuryu-type crimes.

Since the crime involves numerous perpetrators, amateurs often participate, resulting in a higher risk of arrest.

Therefore, the National Police Agency and other organizations have published “Five Things You Should Know to Avoid Ruining Your Life with Illegal Part-Time Jobs,” which includes warnings such as “You will definitely get caught,” “Never accept invitations from seniors or friends,” “Never sell your bank account or smartphone,” “If you travel abroad, you may never be able to return,” and “You can still turn back now.” The most difficult thing is probably “not accepting invitations from seniors or friends.” In the Tochigi Prefecture case, the perpetrators were invited by friends and gathered without being told it was an illegal part-time job.

If you are invited to any kind of work (part-time job), you should check the workplace and job description, and if you cannot do that, you should leave. You are usually only informed of the job details at the last minute, so your decision may be delayed if you wait until then. If you cannot get out, you could consider, for example, calling 110 (the emergency number) and keeping the call connected to the person who invited you.

Ultimately, it’s best to assume that there are no “easy part-time jobs” offered by seniors or friends.

Just because the person is close to you doesn’t mean you should assume such jobs actually exist. It would also be necessary to conduct role-playing exercises at school and at home, similar to crime prevention drills, where students practice refusing unwanted advances.

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI