Deportations from Japan jump 55% this year

Japan has deported 34 Chinese citizens back to Shanghai as of Sunday, an increase of 55 percent from the same period last year, the local border inspection authority said Wednesday.

More Chinese nationals have been deported from Japan this year as Japanese authorities have cracked down on foreigners illegally living and working in the country, said Lu Jun, a press officer with the Pujiang Frontier Inspection Station, which oversees the Shanghai Port in the Pujiang area.

"Those people who were deported didn't have proper approval to work in Japan," Lu told the Global Times. "Some of them confessed that they didn't have a visa. Some were sent back after serving a jail sentence and some were caught working without a permit during a routine inspection."

In one case, a man surnamed Yang was repatriated Sunday after spending more than four years in a Japanese prison for theft, according to a press release from the station.

Yang, who was in his 20s, went to Japan in 2007 on a six-month visa to study at a language training school. Later, the school refused to renew Yang's visa because he had spent too much time working while at the school.

Although his visa had expired, he continued to work in the country. In 2008, he was sentenced to prison for theft.

In another case, a Chinese citizen surnamed Li was deported after serving nearly two years in jail for using counterfeit materials to apply for a visa in 2009.

Lu recommended that locals who want to make a living in Japan should apply for a legal visa and obey Japanese law.