Crime Organized shoplifting ravages Uniqlo and other Japanese retailers

A recent rise in shoplifting by visitors to Japan has impacted Uniqlo and other retailers. Arrests of foreign nationals for the crime reached an eight-year high in 2023, prompting experts to call for measures such as enhanced employee training. In February, Osaka police apprehended three Vietnamese women suspected of repeatedly stealing from Uniqlo stores. According to the investigation, which concluded in July, one of the women reportedly told police that the lack of staff allowed them to avoid detection and steal repeatedly easily.

The trio came to Japan on short-term visas between June 2023 and February 2024. They are accused of taking a total of about 3,300 items worth around 12.3 million JPY (USD 82,800) from 37 stores in the Kansai region around Osaka, as well as in Tokyo. They allegedly put the goods in large purses or other bags and carried them out of the stores, repeating this process until suitcases held by a man traveling with them were full. The group used this method to bring the stolen goods back to where they were staying, where the goods were transferred to another person who transported them back to Vietnam. The women received 170,000 to 210,000 JPY apiece for each roughly two-week stay in Japan.

Click to expand...

Investigators believe an unknown individual recruited the women to come to Japan for organized shoplifting. The man allegedly arranged their travel and provided instructions on targeting stores in shopping malls with open entrances, avoiding those with limited exits, and focusing on less bulky women's clothing. One of the women explained that Uniqlo is highly sought after in Vietnam due to its perceived luxury status and high resale value, especially as the market is saturated with counterfeit products. Genuine items with Japanese tags command premium prices on Vietnamese online marketplaces. Since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the resurgence of international travel, organized shoplifting and other crimes committed by foreign groups have increased in Japan. In addition to Uniqlo, major global brands like H&M and Zara and drugstores are frequent targets. Shoplifters are taking advantage of security vulnerabilities caused by staffing shortages in stores.

In March, four Vietnamese men and women were charged with theft for allegedly shoplifting at a Uniqlo store in Fukuoka prefecture on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu and were given suspended sentences. In this case as well, they are said to have followed the instructions of another person. Bags allegedly specially made to avoid detection by security sensors revealed the level of organization. "Compared with other countries, in Japan, stores are reluctant to take clear action when they see something suspicious, out of consideration for customers," said Akira Mitsuzane, a director of the National Shoplifting Prevention Organization, on the reasons for the increase.

Click to expand...

Paywall alert:

Where does Uniqlo make its clothes? Is it possible they are just trying to repatriate the articles?

All jokes aside, what a bizarre scheme, but nothing is off limits in crime and capitalism.

Sounds like a good reason to institute racial profiling.

They have been having the store raids here in the US for several years now. Seems a group uses social media to plan the raid , all meet up and shoplift/steal a ton of stuff. I just read an article about parents seeing the video on the news and then turning in their own kids to the police.

Hiroyuki Nagashima said:

Is this news true?

Click to expand...

Yes it's true but I haven't heard much about this lately. I think the stores have adapted and some have closed completely. But just recently some new laws were enacted in California to try to make the penalties more severe. I've never heard of this happening in my area. Of course theft happens all the time but this kind of brazen flash mob incident I've never heard of happening in my area.

Grandpa Frank said:

They have been having the store raids here in the US for several years now. Seems a group uses social media to plan the raid , all meet up and shoplift/steal a ton of stuff. I just read an article about parents seeing the video on the news and then turning in their own kids to the police.

Click to expand...

The same thing is happening in the UK, particularly in supermarkets. And what can security do if ten people simultaneously run out a shop, carrying shoplifted products? Much of the food is sold to customers in downmarket pubs, apparently.

For the past couple of years there have been a number of highly visible cases that have been steering public opinion on the subject. Petty and violent crime is highly visible and easy to recognize, so when it gets a lot of coverage it starts to seem like there's a tsunami of thefts occurring. I've seen some of the footage used in the above video in dozens of reports. While it's definitely a problem, it's worth noting that wage theft (when employers steal from their workers) outstrips ALL other forms of theft, at least in the US.



A short Q&A about the "shoplifting epidemic"

A slightly more historical look at shoplifting

Retailers retract their statements exaggerating the enormity of the shoplifting problem, and admit they were hiding behind it as an excuse to close stores.

nice gaijin said:

... it's worth noting that wage theft (when employers steal from their workers) outstrips ALL other forms of theft, at least in the US.

Click to expand...

Regarding wage theft, there is one aspect of it very few talk about, namely internships. I was completely taken aback when one of my friends in the US informed me that roughly half of all internships are unpaid, a concept completely inconceiveable here in Denmark. How does anyone expect a person to survive if they work 8 hrs or more a day without pay? It's pretty hard to work anything aside from minimum wage jobs outside of your main job - so how does that person manage to make ends meet? Not sleeping and eating?
It really should be illegal.

dracuella said:

Regarding wage theft, there is one aspect of it very few talk about, namely internships. I was completely taken aback when one of my friends in the US informed me that roughly half of all internships are unpaid, a concept completely inconceiveable here in Denmark. How does anyone expect a person to survive if they work 8 hrs or more a day without pay? It's pretty hard to work anything aside from minimum wage jobs outside of your main job - so how does that person manage to make ends meet? Not sleeping and eating?
It really should be illegal.

Click to expand...

Unpaid internships also perpetuate economic and social inequality, because in the UK they have tended to be for prestigious and/or creative companies. Only those who have wealthy parents to support them during their unpaid internship can 'get their foot in the door'. So it's the already wealthy and connected who are more likely to become the movers and shakers in the next generation. I believe that unpaid internships were made illegal in the UK fairly recently.

dracuella said:

Regarding wage theft, there is one aspect of it very few talk about, namely internships. I was completely taken aback when one of my friends in the US informed me that roughly half of all internships are unpaid, a concept completely inconceiveable here in Denmark. How does anyone expect a person to survive if they work 8 hrs or more a day without pay? It's pretty hard to work anything aside from minimum wage jobs outside of your main job - so how does that person manage to make ends meet? Not sleeping and eating?
It really should be illegal.

Click to expand...

I haven't thought much about it but I always assumed unpaid internships were similar to going to university. You're going there to learn something or at least get connections. And like at university, you pay to live there, nobody pays you. But I haven't personally seen them in my real life. In my industry (technology) we always pay our interns.

Lothor said:

Unpaid internships also perpetuate economic and social inequality, because in the UK they have tended to be for prestigious and/or creative companies. Only those who have wealthy parents to support them during their unpaid internship can 'get their foot in the door'. So it's the already wealthy and connected who are more likely to become the movers and shakers in the next generation. I believe that unpaid internships were made illegal in the UK fairly recently.

Click to expand...

Made me think of this scene

mdchachi said:

I haven't thought much about it but I always assumed unpaid internships were similar to going to university. You're going there to learn something or at least get connections. And like at university, you pay to live there, nobody pays you. But I haven't personally seen them in my real life. In my industry (technology) we always pay our interns.

Click to expand...

I'm sure there are great places to be an intern where focus is on training and teaching. I also don't mind internships that count as part of your education where you get credit for a month or two at a company that teaches you about their line of work. What I do mind is when said internship is required as part of their education and they have to pay tuition for that credit while working unpaid. It just feels wrong, especially for people who are already struggling financially.

And the unpaid post-graduation internships really irk me. My friend lives in NY and tells me that in their line of business some companies have a pool of unpaid interns that rotates constantly, making it incredibly hard to get an entry-level job. Apparently, the rules for unpaid internships are vague enough that just pairing an intern up with a senior employee will enable you to talk your way out of most other points. Very much apropos the video @nice gaijin just posted.

I don't know if the EU in general is any better but in Denmark at least everyone sees it as part of expanding the work force to take on fresh graduates. Some call it a junior position or similar but you get paid in full and not for a limited time. It's a proper job right out of the gates and while everyone realises most are going to switch at some point, it's also considered a golden opportunity to mould new minds to fit into their company.