IBARAKI – Prefectural officials have announced the launch of a controversial new reward system next month, offering cash bounties to citizens who provide tips that lead to police busting businesses that illegally employ foreign workers, reports Nippon News Network (Apr. 22).
Set to begin on May 11, the reporting system is the first of its kind in Japan. Prefectural officials stressed that the crackdown is aimed squarely at rogue employers, rather than the foreign laborers themselves.
Under the new initiative, informants who provide actionable intelligence leading to a police arrest will receive a 10,000-yen reward per case.
Tip-offs will be accepted through a dedicated portal on the prefecture’s website. To deter frivolous or racially motivated complaints, informants will be required to provide their real name, submit personal identification, and detail the concrete circumstances of the illegal employment.
The bold measure has sparked sudden backlash, with critics arguing the system risks fueling xenophobia and discrimination.
However, Ibaraki officials emphasized that the program will strictly reject reports based on a person’s appearance, nationality, or neighborhood disputes, such as noise complaints or garbage disposal violations. The sole focus is on uncovering the businesses fueling the black-market labor trade.
Ibaraki Prefecture, heavily reliant on its massive agricultural sector, currently hosts over 61,000 foreign workers. Frustrated by persistently high rates of illegal labor and the limits of conventional administrative warnings, authorities are now turning to citizen informants to root out exploitative employers once and for all.
