Vietnam group’s alleged Uniqlo crime spree highlights allure of Japan-made products

The incident highlights a growing trend of cross-border theft, driven by the allure of high-quality Japanese products, raising questions about the government’s trainee visa programme as well as concerns about security protocols.

Police in Fukuoka prefecture arrested four Vietnamese nationals who arrived in Japan in September and were allegedly tasked with stealing from multiple Uniqlo outlets, the Asahi newspaper reported on Tuesday. The suspects have not been named, but are in their 30s and 40s.

Sources told the Asahi that the four did not know each other, but all were connected to a Vietnamese woman in her 40s who allegedly directed their operations from Vietnam, giving instructions on the size and colours they should steal. The four people reportedly owed money to the woman, who has also not been named in the media, although an arrest warrant has been passed on to Vietnamese authorities.

The sources added that the group had visited Japan numerous times since 2018 and stolen from clothing stores in Tokyo, Fukuoka and the Kansai region of central Japan on 66 occasions.

Police allege they stole 5,237 items, including much sought-after down jackets, with a total retail value of 19.7 million yen (US$132,500).

Sources within the Vietnamese community in Japan said many of their compatriots who were in Japan on student or trainee visas made a little extra money on the side by buying products that were difficult to obtain in Vietnam and mailing them back home. That can cross the line into crime, however, when some realise just how much money can be made by sending stolen goods back to Vietnam.

And even though there are Uniqlo stores in Vietnam, and many of the products found on the stores’ shelves are actually made in the country, demand for items that are sourced from Japan – and have the original labels to prove it – is high because of the perception that the quality is higher.

“The quality was really poor, but we had to use them because there was nothing else,” said the woman, who asked to not be identified by name. “But then people in Japan started sending clothes that were bought here back to Vietnam, and we realised that these were better, that we could trust the quality.

“Even though Uniqlo now has stores in Vietnam, many people there believe that there is still a big difference in the quality that we get there from Japan,” she added.

Japan’s reliance on foreign workers increases amid deepening labour shortage

Uniqlo prices are also higher in Vietnam, which may come as a surprise given that many of the brand’s products are made in the country.

As demand for the brand has grown, so have the opportunities for criminal groups to take advantage of the situation.

Several people from Vietnam have been arrested in recent years after stealing crops and even livestock from farms in remote parts of Japan, and selling them to friends and colleagues. Many of these cases occurred among Vietnamese who came to Japan on the government’s foreign trainee programme, which has been widely accused of providing companies with cheap labour while providing little in the way of education for trainees.

Attracted by the possibility of making large amounts of money, some have walked away from their trainee positions and now work illegally.

In January, police in central Japan’s Gifu prefecture arrested a group of 22 Vietnamese nationals on charges of stealing 191 cars from 18 prefectures. The gang reportedly targeted luxury vehicles and the stolen cars had an estimated value of 380 million yen (US$2.55 million).

“Many Japanese products across many sectors are very popular with overseas consumers at the moment and the weak yen is making it easy for foreigners to come to Japan, either on holiday or to steal,” said Shinichi Ishizuka, founder of the Tokyo-based Criminal Justice Future think tank.

“For the criminals, Japan is also appealing because security is quite weak at many stores, such as Uniqlo,” said Ishizuka, who is also the former director of the criminology research centre at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University.

While stand-alone stores have doors onto the street, he pointed out, those in large shopping centres typically have an entire frontage that is open to customers, making it easier for people to come and go.

“It has been widely reported that many of the people on the government trainee programmes are having a difficult time, and perhaps it is not surprising that they are attracted by the opportunity to make a lot of money quite quickly, but more should be done to stop these sorts of organised crime groups,” Ishizuka said. “Companies should also be more aware of the problem and introduce more countermeasures.”

The Asahi reported that police investigated 2,081 cases of shoplifting involving Vietnamese nationals in 2021, with 649 people arrested. In 2022, there were 1,927 cases and 488 Vietnamese were arrested.