NIIGATA - Young people recruited into illegal "dark part-time jobs" through social media and friends are increasingly becoming involved in fraud and violent robberies across Japan, with interviews at a juvenile training school revealing how the promise of easy money, a desire for recognition and fear of criminal groups can gradually leave them feeling unable to escape.
Niigata Juvenile Training School in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, houses 61 young people between the ages of 16 and 20, many of them sent from Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and other parts of the greater Tokyo area.
Eleven of the residents were involved in crimes connected to dark part-time jobs, including fraud and robbery, accounting for nearly 20% of those at the facility.
Officials at the school said young people involved in such crimes have made up a consistent share of residents for about the past decade. Many were recruited through social media or approached by friends who told them the work was questionable but lucrative.
One 17-year-old from the Kanto region dropped out of high school before applying for a dark part-time job and repeatedly taking part in special fraud schemes, including collecting or withdrawing money obtained from victims.
He said a friend introduced him to a man connected to organized crime who appeared to have enormous amounts of money. "He had so much money, and it looked cool to me. It was like, if you have money, you've won," the teenager said.
The man also offered him money for introducing other young people who needed cash, leading the teenager to recruit two acquaintances from his hometown.
His fascination with wealth eventually led him to consider traveling overseas to make even more money through special fraud operations.
He said he had heard stories about people going to Cambodia and earning hundreds of millions of yen, including claims that someone had returned with 500 million yen. "I was only hearing positive stories like that, so I really wanted to go," he said.
He had planned to travel with the friend who first introduced him to the scheme, but the friend was arrested. His own trip was ultimately prevented after his parents took control of his passport.
Another 17-year-old, who had worked at construction sites since graduating from junior high school, said he also joined a dark part-time job after being introduced by a friend because he believed it offered an easy way to earn large amounts of money.
He wanted money to travel and spend time with friends and said he had been told he could receive about 500,000 yen for a single job.
The target was a house occupied by an elderly couple. The teenager and two friends were initially told to bring a baseball bat and a bag and believed their role would involve breaking a window and stealing valuables.
After arriving near the scene, however, they were instructed to buy rope and other items, and the nature of the crime changed dramatically.
They were ordered to enter the home, restrain the couple and steal a large amount of cash.
The teenager said people connected to organized crime were behind the operation, leaving the group afraid of what might happen if they backed out. "If we ran away from the job, we didn't know what they would do to us," he said.
The three entered the home and found an elderly woman sleeping. Fearing she would scream, they tied her up with rope and tape before demanding to know where the money was kept.
The teenager said they had been instructed to tell the victims that they knew the couple was hiding money and to keep demanding that it be handed over.
He said the group became frightened and panicked during the robbery, and the victims were injured while being restrained.
Fear of the criminal organization was not the only reason he felt unable to stop. He said being with his friends created another form of pressure because he did not want to be the only person who became frightened and backed out.
According to the Ministry of Justice, more than 80% of young people in juvenile training schools who became involved in dark part-time jobs were recruited through introductions from friends, older acquaintances or others they knew.
Authorities believe criminal organizations recruiting young people may be exploiting their reluctance to abandon friends and their desire to belong to a group.
Niigata Juvenile Training School has introduced a rehabilitation program focused specifically on special fraud, one of the first such initiatives at a juvenile training facility in Japan.
Through group discussions, participants examine why they became involved in crime and why they became so attached to money that they were willing to harm other people to obtain it.
During one discussion, a teenager described wanting the outward appearance of success and recalled experiencing severe financial hardship, including having utilities shut off.
He said he did not want to struggle with money and was attracted by the lifestyle of people earning money through fraud, who appeared able to own expensive cars, buy whatever they wanted, eat well and live without working.
Staff members encouraged the teenagers to look beyond money itself and consider what they hoped money would give them.
Some said they wanted other people to think they were wealthy, while others acknowledged wanting to raise their standard of living or gain approval from those around them.
Officials at the facility said many of the young people had relatively few experiences of being recognized or valued by others and had tried to satisfy that desire for approval through money earned from crime.
The program therefore asks participants to consider not only why they wanted money, but what emotional need they were trying to satisfy by spending it, including a desire to be respected, noticed or trusted.
Staff members said preventing repeat offenses will depend heavily on whether the young people can build relationships with people they can trust after leaving the facility.
Participants are encouraged to distance themselves from previous criminal contacts, form new friendships and find dependable people who will recognize steady effort rather than criminal success.
Officials also stress the importance of having trustworthy adults to turn to when problems arise.
Having someone reliable to seek help from, they said, could give a young person an alternative way out when facing financial trouble, pressure from friends or renewed contact from criminal groups.
Source: TBS
