Jobs in the Shadows

The National Police Agency is investigating the circumstances that have led thousands to take on yami baito, illegal “dark part-time jobs.” As detailed in the 2024 White Paper on Police, 2,373 individuals were arrested across Japan in 2023 for criminal involvement in special fraud as cash receivers, withdrawers, or transporters. According to the NPA findings, 991 individuals (41.8% of the arrests) were recruited through advertisements for yami baito gigs on social media. Another 763 (32.2%) became involved through acquaintances. There were also 82 individuals who became involved by applying to positions listed as “day labor staff” on legitimate job search sites.

Impress Watch, a technology news website covering IT, consumer electronics, and entertainment, published an article on November 8, 2024, describing cases where recruitment for these illicit gigs was carried out through platforms like the job-matching app Timee, where users can find part-time jobs to do in their free time.

Typical Traits of the Arrested Youth

Based on interviews I conducted, those arrested for involvement in dark part-time jobs tend to have lower educational backgrounds. They also seem to lack the patience to wait for future success. Therefore, they tend to act impulsively when presented with what they perceive to be a one-time opportunity for quick profit. Also, looking at the suspects arrested in the series of robberies in the Kantō region this summer, many were leading unstable lives, working strings of part-time jobs or being unemployed. Some were dealing with debt.

A government survey of convicts also showed that many young people want to “make easy money.” In a study conducted by the Ministry of Justice’s Research and Training Institute in January 2021 targeting offenders and juvenile delinquents, younger individuals were more likely than others to agree with the statement “I’d rather earn money easily than work hard,” with 50.3% of respondents in their twenties agreeing. An active probation officer, when asked about the typical profile of youths who apply to dark part-time jobs, explained that they are often children leaving child welfare facilities with nowhere to go or young people with too much free time. These individuals lack social awareness and are easily deceived. They accept the shady jobs without fully understanding what they entail.

Among individuals with dark part-time job experience whom I interviewed, more than half came from families where dysfunctional tendencies could be observed. A majority were from households with a biological mother and a stepfather, suggesting they may have lacked a sense of belonging at home.

One psychiatrist who counsels youths at a juvenile detention center in Osaka, Nakano Haruko, is a proponent of the “self-medication hypothesis.” It focuses on the process where youths who feel they don’t belong at home, experience abuse, or face other difficulties descend further into delinquency as a result of their struggles.

At the 117th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology held in September 2021, Nakano reported survey findings that shed light on the background and reasons behind why young people begin to use as well as sell drugs. Her study, which was based on private interviews with 47 youths at a juvenile training school (detention center), revealed that 41 of them admitted to using drugs, including marijuana, LSD, MDMA, cocaine, and prescription medications.

Among these youths, 55% had been selling drugs, of which more than 70% were using multiple substances. When asked about their histories of abuse, 70% reported experiencing physical, psychological, or sexual abuse, or neglect. Based on these results, Nakano concludes that, rather than seeking pleasure, these youths are self-medicating to cope with the pain caused by a lack of a supportive home environment and the challenges they face in life, which ultimately lead them to addictive behaviors like drug use.

Misconduct as a Way to Survive

“There is a very common pattern of youths who lack a place at home seeking connection by hanging out with delinquent peers. From there, they get involved with drugs, alcohol, and the nightlife scene, becoming more and more immersed in a world of darkness. But delinquency can also be seen as a form of self-medication for survival,” reasons Nakano, reflecting on the study results in relation to why youths from dysfunctional families fall further into delinquency.

As reported in the 2023 White Paper on Crime, a Research and Training Institute survey on living environments and attitudes targeting 564 juvenile inmates (508 males and 56 females) in the initial detention phase at juvenile training schools revealed that 59.6% of the males and 73.2% of the females had experienced physical violence from family members, such as being punched or kicked, backing the findings of the aforementioned survey.

In a case I was involved in supporting, two individuals were not only smoking marijuana by the time they were 15 but were also selling drugs. Both showed clear signs of neglect and dysfunctional family backgrounds. When such youths are recruited into dark part-time jobs by drug dealers or others, there is a significant risk they may become involved in gang activity, since refusing such offers from more experienced dealers and older peers would be difficult.

Tougher Sentences for First-Time Offenders

According to the report on Awareness of and Arrests Related to Special Fraud in 2023, released by the National Police Agency’s Organized Crime Division, 49 people were arrested as central figures (ringleaders) in dark part-time job cases, accounting for just 2% of special fraud arrests. In contrast, 1,856 cash receivers and withdrawers were arrested, accounting for 75.6%.

Recently, when individuals involved in dark part-time jobs are arrested, even first-time offenders are given prison sentences for general deterrence. Thus, many end up in correctional facilities.

A former public prosecutor I spoke with through a lawyer gave the following rationale for harsh punishments for lower-level participants: “Although cash receivers, withdrawers, and callers are at lower levels of the operations, being used by the actual leaders, it wouldn’t be possible for these crimes to be carried out without them. Therefore, the importance of their roles cannot be denied, and there is still a need for severe punishment.”

Since the Juvenile Act was revised in 2021, making punishments for crimes more severe for “specified juveniles” aged 18 and 19, these youths involved in dark part-time jobs can now be tried in criminal court if the family court determines that criminal punishment is necessary. Despite being juveniles, they are being subjected to harsher punishments.

Recidivism Triggered by Tougher Punishments?

There are two main reasons why I am opposed to harsher punishments for first-time offenders. The first is that society itself bears some responsibility. Due to insufficient information-literacy training and career education within the school system, adults lack adequate knowledge about dark part-time jobs, and children are not properly warned as a result.

The second reason is that history clearly shows that harsher punishments do not deter crime. Once arrested for involvement in special fraud or other illegal work, even first-time offenders are certain to face a prison sentence. For college students, this means expulsion, while those who are employed will be fired from their jobs. Furthermore, being registered as part of “antisocial forces,” or organized crime, in financial institutions’ databases prevents individuals from opening bank accounts even after their release from prison, and they will find signing contracts for mobile phones or credit cards to be difficult. For adults, a “digital scarlet letter” in the form of a criminal record may hinder employment opportunities and marriage prospects. As a result, many lose hope and fall into despair, increasing their likelihood of reoffending and thereby perpetuating a vicious cycle that creates new victims. Instead of rehabilitating offenders, we are effectively driving them onto a narrow path where the chance for future success is slim, ultimately contributing to the growth of the criminal underworld.

For these reasons, I believe it is unlikely that severe punishments for first-time offenders will reduce the number of people applying to dark part-time jobs. If we aim to rehabilitate them, we should offer them a second chance and focus on providing new opportunities.

Preventing Tragedies

Recently, there seems to be a tendency in society, backed by the media, to glorify certain YouTubers, charismatic investors, and those who boast of making “easy money.”

Furthermore, people of all ages seem to be obsessed with sharing curated glimpses of their daily lives on social media, presenting an image of themselves as living flashy, glamorous lives to validate their self-worth. It is only natural that young people exposed to this type of content will want a chance to “win big” so they can live glamorously too.

Perhaps the first step in preventing children from going astray is for adults to rethink their excessive self-promotion on social media. The priority should be for Japanese society to mature as a whole. Once that happens, we are likely to see the attitudes of young people shift as well.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)