Missing foreign tourists found working in Japan for 6,500 yen a day

TOKYO, Nov 16 (News On Japan) - Japan is witnessing a rapid increase in foreign nationals disappearing after arriving as tourists.

Since the end of the COVID-19 crisis, Tokyo Immigration has seen a surge in illegal employment among foreign nationals, with the bureau chief reporting, "Since May, we've been making about 40 arrests per month, averaging about 80 people a month."

A TV Asahi investigative report follows a month-long pursuit by immigration officers, culminating in an early morning raid on a house following a tip that a "group of foreigners was hiding there."

Officers rush into the house at 6 AM finding two Thai married couples, men and women in their late 20s to late 30s, who had entered Japan under the guise of tourism and had been working illegally for more than 10 months since around January this year.

They came to Japan relying on brokers in Thailand and Japan, intending to use their earnings for childcare expenses in Thailand and living expenses after marriage.

The daily wage was 6500 yen, about half the wage for similar agricultural work in the area.

The four foreigners packed their belongings and detained by the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, later to be deported to Thailand under the Immigration Control Act.