Tokuryū Rising: Inside Japan’s Elusive New Crime Networks

A New Breed of Criminal Network

Since August 2024, the Tokyo metropolitan area has seen a sharp uptick in robberies and other crimes carried out by loosely affiliated groups called tokuryū. These ad hoc syndicates quickly form and disband, recruiting strangers through social media for yami baito (“shady part-time jobs”) that promise high payouts. The growing list of incidents perpetrated by these groups, including the case of a 75-year-old Kanagawa man killed in a botched burglary, has shocked the public.

Tokuryū—a portmanteau of the Japanese words for “anonymous” and “fluid”—lack the tightly knit organizational structure of traditional organized crime groups like the yakuza. They operate with a decentralized, four-tier pyramid structure. At the top are the masterminds who orchestrate crimes but stay hidden. Below them are ringleaders who coordinate the execution of crimes, followed by recruiters (known as kakeko or “callers”) who lure participants via phone calls and social media. At the bottom are perpetrators (ukeko or “receivers”) who carry out the yami baito to collect money from fraud victims or conduct robberies, thefts, or other illegal acts. Those at the top siphon off the lion’s share of proceeds from illicit behavior.

Those at the top of the pyramid typically belong to existing criminal gangs. But tokuryū groups quickly break up after a gig and reassemble elsewhere with different players. This shapeshifting nature has hampered police efforts to identify leadership structures and form a clear picture of the scale of operations.

Expanding Crime Menace

Tokuryū began to make headlines in 2022 with a spate of robberies and scams by a group led by a figure known as “Luffy,” an apparent reference to the character Monkey D. Luffy from the manga and anime series One Piece. Based in the Philippines, the group’s leaders recruited and directed the activities of members in Japan via the encrypted app Telegram, raking in billions of yen.

The criminal exploits of tokuryū span a wide spectrum, from credit card fraud, robbery, and drug trafficking to loan sharking and even illegal fishing. The groups are not overly fastidious about what they steal, pinching expensive bonsai trees from backyards, copper wiring from solar arrays, manhole covers, and anything else that can easily be sold for cash. Using underhanded tactics, they manipulate victims into paying inflated fees for goods and services, including duping female customers of host clubs into running up exorbitant tabs and then coercing them into the sex trade to pay off their debts.

The loose organization of tokuryū groups and net-based recruiting methods mean that malefactors are quite diverse. Along with members of designated yakuza groups and quasi-gangs, there are perpetrators unaligned with any syndicate. Some tokuryū consist largely of Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, or other foreign nationals. What is more, there are indications that traditional yakuza organizations, whose membership has plummeted due to police crackdowns, are increasingly turning to tokuryū tactics and tying up with new crime networks.

Lured by Easy Money

Social media use has been a major driver in the ascendance of tokuryū groups, who take advantage of people’s tendency to believe what they see online. When posting shady job ads, recruiters will typically be vague, framing illegal gigs as being in a legal “gray zone,” enticing individuals desperate for quick cash.

My investigations have revealed that many recruiters are seasoned manipulators capable of conning individuals, even those with no prior criminal background, into committing illegal acts. They are helped in this by the fact that many of those who apply for shady part-time jobs are struggling with debt. A man in his twenties arrested for burglary and robbery, for instance, told police that he was desperate to dig himself out financially, even though he was aware there was a risk of being caught. He might never have taken the job if not for the smooth-talking recruiter.

These recruiters are skilled at building trust. They lend a sympathetic ear to their young targets and dangle promises of ¥30,000 to ¥50,000 per job—enough, they say, to pay off their debts in no time. Once a person shows interest, they are asked to send a photo of their ID card, supposedly as part of the “interview process” but is actually for gleaning personal information that can be used to pressure the individual into carrying out crimes.

Once caught in the tokuryū criminal web, it is extremely difficult for individuals to extract themselves. Even if a person is racked with guilt, recruiters use intimidation and strongarm tactics to keep them doing jobs, including threatening harm to them personally and to their families.

Borderless Bandits

Today’s communications technology enables criminal groups to easily run scams from anywhere in the world, and increasingly foreign-based syndicates are targeting people in Japan. I once interviewed a man who made scam calls to Japan from China. He proclaimed to me matter-of-factly that he had no fear of being arrested as his boss was Chinese and the group operated in China, outside the jurisdiction of the Japanese police.

This year brought news of the discovery of a massive scam compound in Myanmar run by Chinese crime organizations, with more than 7,000 individuals being freed by an armed militia group. The syndicate had lured workers with promises of high-paying jobs, only to hold them against their will in squalid and abusive conditions, forcing them to defraud people over the phone or online. Overseers handed out beatings to those who were unable to meet their quotas.

Among those rescued was a Japanese high-school-aged boy. He was told by a person he had met through an online game that he could use his tech skills to earn money overseas. The presence of native Japanese speakers such as the boy points strongly to the involvement of Japanese crime groups in these overseas operations.

There are many such scam centers scattered across Southeast Asia, particularly in lawless areas with weak government oversight, making it hard for authorities to crack down on their activities.

One scam often employed by Chinese tokuryū groups is to use fake investment websites, promoted via social media, to defraud victims. According to Japan’s National Police Agency, such scams cost Japanese citizens around ¥87.1 billion in 2024.

Another common tactic is phishing, which entails sending fake emails disguised as being from a well-known and reputable company to trick victims into entering personal information on fake websites, often resulting in stolen credit card details. The data is then used to buy and resell products. There is also an uptick in business scams, such as convincing homeowners that their buildings need urgent and expensive repairs.

Tokuryū are constantly changing their tactics and coming up with new, inventive ways to target people. The best way to avoid inadvertently becoming a victim or perpetrator is to keep in mind that offers of easy money are almost always scams. It is also important to safeguard personal information and to sharpen one’s digital literacy skills. Only by remaining vigilant and aware of the risks lurking on social media in today’s connected world can we avoid being caught in the jaws of the nebulous tokuryū.

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