Fraud committed by older adults has evolved into murder-robberies committed by teenagers, as the foot soldiers hired by quasi-gangster groups known as ³Ù´Ç°ì³Ü°ù²â¨± have become younger over the years.

The most recent murder-robbery case in Tochigi Prefecture has received attention for the fact that all four of the intruders were 16-year-old high school boys. But it is just one of many, with another major incident being the robbery at a luxury watch shop in Tokyo¡¯s ritzy Ginza district in 2023, which was committed by teens between the ages of 16 and 19.

And the link between the perpetrators¡¯ ages and the nature of the crimes may be causal.