The article examines the rapid rise of tokuryu, tech-savvy, fluid criminal networks in Japan that recruit disposable operatives via social media and encrypted messaging. Tokuryu scams, particularly those targeting the elderly with cons like the 'It's me!' ploy, have surged — costing an estimated 72.2 billion yen from January to July. Tokyo formed a 100-officer taskforce in October to tackle the threat, while weakened traditional yakuza and expanding hangure groups complicate the criminal landscape.
New 'Tokuryu' Gangs Outpace Traditional Yakuza, Exploiting Social Media to Target Japan's Elderly
Some of the letters Japanese gangster Takanori Kuzuoka wrote to AFP from prison (Kazuhiro NOGI)(Kazuhiro NOGI/AFP/AFP)
When Takanori Kuzuoka began climbing the criminal ladder he rejected Japan's old-school yakuza — their tattoos, rigid ranks and strict codes of conduct did not appeal to him. Instead he gravitated toward a newer, tech-literate underworld known as the 'tokuryu,' where hidden masterminds exploit social media and encrypted messaging to recruit often-naive foot soldiers to carry out crimes.
What Is Tokuryu?
Tokuryu, a term that roughly means 'anonymous and fluid,' describes loosely organized criminal networks that operate like a gig economy. Rather than relying on lifelong loyalty or formal hierarchies, tokuryu hire disposable operatives into short-lived 'project teams' that form, split and recombine around specific scams or crimes.
How They Operate
According to firsthand accounts and police reports, tokuryu use social platforms and encrypted chats to post deceptive job ads and recruit volunteers for 'high-paying' gigs. Recruits — from sex workers and gambling addicts to aspiring entertainers — are often drawn in by the promise of quick money and given narrow, deniable tasks. Leadership remains shadowy and insulated from arrest; arrests of low-level operatives rarely lead to the ringleaders.
'Every single day countless people took the bait on fishy adverts I posted,' Kuzuoka wrote in a five-month exchange of handwritten letters from prison.
Scams are the tokuryu's bread and butter. A prevalent ploy is the 'It's me!' con: callers impersonate a victim's relative and plead for money after inventing an emergency. Another common tactic is the staged costume con, where perpetrators impersonate police, bank officials or civil servants — sometimes feeding scripted lines by earpiece to collaborators on the scene.
Violence and Atrocities
Though many tokuryu schemes are nonviolent frauds, brutality occurs. Kuzuoka admitted to leading a violent robbery in which a mother was forced to hand over 30 million yen while her two children were bound. Such incidents highlight how the tokuryu can blend deception with severe physical threats.
Yakuza Reaction And Changing Criminal Culture
Traditional yakuza groups — once openly embedded in parts of Japanese society and notorious for tattoos, rituals and public displays — claim to adhere to a code that prohibits preying on the weak. Former members and senior yakuza figures privately condemning fraud on the elderly call such tactics dishonourable and a departure from their self-styled 'code of chivalry.'
Yet decades of anti-gang laws and social exclusion have eroded yakuza power: membership fell to a record low of about 18,800 last year, nearly an 80% decline since 1992. That vacuum has enabled the rise of hangure, or quasi-yakuza youth cliques, which often feed into tokuryu operations and sometimes blend criminal activities with legitimate enterprises like events, salons or fashion brands.
Links Between Tokuryu And Yakuza
Police say the relationship between tokuryu and yakuza is mixed. Some yakuza leaders scorn the new scams but others take a cut of tokuryu proceeds or offer muscle and protection in return. Retired detectives and former yakuza lawyers warn that while the old mafia is weakened, it remains a stabilizing — and sometimes colluding — force in Japan's criminal ecosystem.
Police Response And Impact
Tokuryu scams inflicted estimated losses of 72.2 billion yen (about $474 million) between January and July, surpassing last year's total. Tokyo police named tokuryu a top public-order priority and created a 100-officer taskforce in October to dismantle these networks. Investigators emphasize the challenge: tokuryu's fluid structure means arrests of small-time operatives rarely expose the leadership behind large-scale fraud.
Personal Reckoning
Serving a nine-year sentence for a violent 2022 robbery, Kuzuoka reflected on his role. 'Life in the underworld distorted me,' he wrote. 'I was almost emotionless. I see now what a cruel, demonic and inhumane thing we did. I will carry my sins for the rest of my life.' His account provides rare insight into how modern criminal enterprises recruit, operate and rationalize their actions.
Why It Matters: Tokuryu show how technology and social media are reshaping organized crime, shifting risk downward to replace hierarchical loyalty with disposable labor — and creating new challenges for law enforcement and vulnerable populations, especially the elderly.
