Vietnamese Technical Interns Tied to Nationwide ¥69M Burglary Spree

Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Expanded acceptance of foreign workers and anxiety about public safety tend to fuse quickly in Japan, and the technical-intern training program has long been a target of criticism as a channel for cheap labor. Here, the gap between the "technical intern" label and the described conduct — burglaries up and down the country — plus the sheer scale of the losses crystallized that distrust in a single case.

According to the reporting, a Vietnamese man (31) who came to Japan in 2022 on the technical-intern program and overstayed from the following year was arrested on suspicion of a break-in; police believe he was the driver for a group of four Vietnamese nationals tied to 200-plus burglaries across Tokyo and ten prefectures, with losses estimated at around ¥69 million. What is established is this arrest and the suspicion against the group; the case does not establish that the trainee system, foreign residents, or immigration screening in general cause crime to rise. The government's past "highly skilled talent" and "national treasure" framing of foreign labor was repeatedly thrown back as sarcasm, and distrust of lenient sentencing amplified the anger.

Key Reaction Themes

• Anger at the trainee system and immigration policy — The most common reaction mocked the "highly skilled talent" and "national treasure" rhetoric and demanded the program be scrapped or overhauled; a minority instead pointed the finger at the companies that bring workers in and exploit them.
• Distrust of judicial leniency — Many predicted charges would simply be dropped or suspended, and called for deporting foreign offenders even when cases are not prosecuted.
• Public-safety anxiety and restitution — A sense that Japan is seen as an easy target for theft, plus demands that stolen money be recovered before any release.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Vietnamese technical interns tied to a nationwide burglary spree (about ¥69M)

A Vietnamese man who came on the technical-intern program and then overstayed was arrested over a group's 200-plus burglaries across Tokyo and ten prefectures.

Sources: TBS NEWS DIG

Comments:

• "Another one of Kishida's 'national treasure' burglary rings"
• "Will this one get dropped without charges too?"
• "Thank you, Kishida's treasure — just as you planned, Japan is being steadily wrecked."
• "Good for him — he'll probably get off without charges"
• "Technical intern training in… theft. Hmm."
• "Just scrap the technical-intern system already — there are far too many cases where crap companies bring in foreign workers as slave labor, work them into the ground, then lose them to runaways. Take responsibility."
• "They're our precious 'national treasures,' so naturally we have to drop the charges and keep them on welfare."
• "Let's change the law so anyone who commits a crime gets deported even if charges are dropped"
• "Don't let him out until he's paid full restitution, seriously"
• "It's always nothing but 'highly skilled' criminals who come, lol"
• "Charges dropped in a split second, like clockwork, lol"
• "Why is Japan's justice system this soft on foreigners?"
• "Scrap the technical-intern program"
• "'Foreign students with solid backgrounds are fine,' they say — ever heard of Tokyo University of Social Welfare, where 1,610 students went missing?"
• "When it comes to the skill of theft, they really are 'highly skilled talent'"