Japan must bolster digital education to combat 'shady job' crime wave

A rising number of 'yamibaito' schemes exposes vulnerable young people to organized crime

Will Fee

December 23, 2024 05:05 JST

The Government of Japan has asked social network operators to delete relevant posts over the issue of "yamibaito" (shady side jobs), in which criminals are recruited to carry out crimes through social media. © AP

Will Fee is a researcher at the Tokyo-based Yuri Group. He is the lead writer of the GxxD series of reports, which explore the intersection between digitalization and green energy in Japan.

A love of the high life landed him with debts he couldn't manage. An interior designer by day, he decided to earn a bit of extra cash with a side hustle. The unnamed man in his 20s, talking to Japan's public service broadcaster NHK from a jail cell, said it all began with a simple search on social media platform X for "jobs that pay well."