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Gov't investigates 700 foreign students AWOL from Tokyo university

37 Comments

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37 Comments
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What a sham.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Seems that University has a side business. It’s providing cheap labor or candidates for other illegal services.

0 ( +12 / -12 )

Why would Chinese of all people want to live in Japan, a country they despise so much?

They should all be caught and deported.

After all they're just on the cusp of trebling their economy.

-3 ( +18 / -21 )

AWOL (absent without leave) is a military term to describe personnel who abandon duty station without notice or approval.

These students presumably have freedom of travel within Japan, skipping a class or two would only result in poor attendance, and they are not subject to duty rosters, accountability reports, etc...

Just call it what it is; illegal immigration.

24 ( +27 / -3 )

Well when you eventually do get caught (this is an island) you will face the Japanese immigration detention center.

Not a good place, but also in general, not a good idea to run off illegally with no visa.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

Seems like this is the university's business model. Like many middling private Japanese universities, they attempt to stay afloat on the basis of foreign students b/c without them you'd have gone bankrupt long ago. Then, despite problems in years past, continue the same bad practices. While I understand most people are going to focus on the immigrants, I'd focus more on the university, poor government oversight, and especially the places employing these "students."

The burden should be on employers to validate their visas. These young people wouldn't be running off if Japan wasn't starved for low-wage labor that can easily be exploited. It's bad enough for those coming in through official channels. Imagine what conditions are like for these off the book workers.

4 ( +14 / -10 )

They are all making bentos.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Earth to the keystones!!!!!

Do you think its time to investigate the UNIVERSITY!!!  Clearly they are aiding & abetting this!! Just sayin!

0 ( +10 / -10 )

Why would Chinese of all people want to live in Japan, a country they despise so much?

Believe it or not, even though there are only 1.3 billion Chinese, they do actually have individual viewpoints on matters. Get this - some of them don't hate Japan!

I know, it's mind blowing. But don't let that blown mind trick you into thinking it's not true.

27 ( +34 / -7 )

"Believe it or not, even though there are only 1.3 billion Chinese, they do actually have individual viewpoints on matters. Get this - some of them don't hate Japan!"

Obviously; however, since it's acceptable to gather all Japanese in one single bunch (JT "experts" do), why is it wrong to corral the Chinese? Or the Koreans?

Or JT "experts"?

Bottom line is, illegal immigrants should not be tolerated; especially if they come from a country intend on causing maximum damage to yours. Deportation should be the highest priority for them.

1 ( +16 / -15 )

Why would Chinese of all people want to live in Japan, a country they despise so much?

The usual Chinese or Korean don't hate Japan, it's the governments and politicians that have a problem. Btw 700 this year and a couple of hundreds in the years before, don't they have to register their address when signing up to school and don't they keep track of them?

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Maybe they didn’t like uni in Japan?

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

"Maybe they didn’t like uni in Japan?"

My blown up mind tells me they're illegals; illegals should be deported.

2 ( +11 / -9 )

I hope this hasn’t surprised anyone; this scam been going on for twenty or more years now.

Some foreign students were even sharing bank deposit certificates (submitted to the same or different school) and other documents, and the forgery ring was (and still is) quite sophisticated.

It has been making it very difficult for honest exchange students to get a visa, admitted to a university, find an apartment, and not be considered a flight risk.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Why does Tokyo University of Social Welfare have its public relations office in Nagoya?

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Never even heard of this university, how is it second to Waseda (who has a very well-known and well-run foreign exchange program with English classes)? Also with branches in Gunma and Nagoya which are well-known for having blue-collar foreign workers? Yea, something is very odd here...

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

So what’s the AWOL rate at other schools? Like another poster stated, if this school’s ratio is way out of whack, then investigate the school.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

"I hope this hasn’t surprised anyone; this scam been going on for twenty or more years now.

Some foreign students were even sharing bank deposit certificates (submitted to the same or different school) and other documents, and the forgery ring was (and still is) quite sophisticated.

It has been making it very difficult for honest exchange students to get a visa, admitted to a university, find an apartment, and not be considered a flight risk."

They do EXACTLY the same in Britain; the scam has gone international. However, as soon as they get caught they're sent back unceremoniously. No afternoon tea for these rascals.

Least of all to be treated like victims of the Government, in this instance Japan's; as some JT "experts" are insinuating.

3 ( +9 / -6 )

"700 foreign students AWOL from Tokyo university"?! I don't think they are AWOL(absent without leave) anymore, so many forged passports and ID cards that they could be left using this "road on the way Japan".

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

I'll be expecting more police checks on resident cards, sounds troublesome.

And probably foreign looking folks will be complaining about racism from being constantly checked without knowing the circumstances.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Do you mean to tell me that there are people who would sign up for classes just to get a Visa to come to Japan, then skip out on it? Oh please say it isn't so.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Why would Chinese of all people want to live in Japan, a country they despise so much?

They should all be caught and deported.

After all they're just on the cusp of trebling their economy.

Please don't make such blanket statements. I know some Chinese nationals that have been living in Japan for more than 10 years and have married into Japanese nationals, and are quite happy living here.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

@ kag - I myself have been stopped several times over the years for being white in public. The questioning is usually the same, what's your job, where do you live then they check your wallet to make sure all your ID matches and doesn't belong to somebody else. The best way to deal with it is smile and let them do what they want. Otherwise you may be taken to the station for questioning and it just wastes a lot of your time. They don't need warrants or probable cause in Japan. If you're a foreigner visiting Japan, don't try to exert your rights like you're living in the states.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

since it's acceptable to gather all Japanese in one single bunch

It’s not acceptable.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Wait until April when they’ll be arriving in the hundreds of thousands-it’ll be many more going ‘awol’ then....

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Just check the restaurants, construction sites, docks, recycling factories and scrapyards, SMEs, etc.. The local police and the colleagues in arms with the occasional finger missing know exactly where these people are. They are needed to run the small businesses that are the backbone of Japan. Been known for years. Just check out Rey Ventura's Underground in Japan, an excellent account of such life, written in 1992.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Some of the comments or statements are out of senses to me, Japan is a good country to come and see how much it is lovely but those who disappear are bunch of guys who use ways to come to Japan and get falsified ways to go to other nations they think they feel better to live, even using false IDs. That's the meaning they are not found, they aren't in Japan, thety've left...period!

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

They all got married and are doing factory work in the country now.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If they're bored with University, there is always an another Industry they can relate to, it can be anything like they could either be Hero or Zero.

Still the same, no differences. Just the change of their routes. That's all, folks.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

MBA from Combini U.........Masters of Bento Administration?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Whatever. That cheap labor is helping J-incorporated and the economy - unless they're dodging taxes like they are classes. As long as my gyudon price does not go above 400 yen, I'm OK with it.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

In my experience, Immigration officials in Japan are rude, unprofessional, poorly trained, and some downright disgusting. Perhaps these students feel that following correct procedure just leads to a tirade of abuse.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

So how many Japanese students are skipping class at this school?

But yes clearly this school is a front for job placement to dodgy industries and is probably affiliated if not run by the Yaks.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Like many “universities” in Japan, this school is actually a vocational college run as a family business. It has the dubious distinction of being the first Japanese university ever to have had an application for a new department denied because of management irregularities.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/東京福祉大学

The founder was not only busted for sexual harassment of employees but given a sentence that included actual prison time. More typically, first offenders are given a suspended sentence.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/中島恒雄

I live not far from two of the campuses. I’ve never seen any traffic in or out of the one in Oji.

Institutions like this are in effect selling work permits by the backdoor. Foreign nationals on student visas can work 28 hours/week during term time and more during breaks.

Similar operations exist in both the US and the UK.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

700 students gone missing and why has the university not reported this to Japanese authorities so they can go to the last known residence or put the missing students photograph on the news with a reward offered. This is a drop in the bucket compared to the 76,000 illegals who supposedly entered the southern border of the USA last month.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Japanese are too trusting... and too easily fooled....

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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