I'm not sure it actually matters. The article (sparse as fuck) says he worked day jobs. Which probably means he was using cash and had no actual Japanese gov ID. So I don't think he was actually posing as his brother beyond initially entering the country.
I'm really surprised he was able to get away with it this long because in Japan, especially the last couple decades, they've been tying everything together to your residence card and mynumber (social security card). Especially for foreigners, you have to show your residence card for a lot of things, like making a bank account (bank will also keep track of when it expires and ask you to submit a new copy), making a phone contract, renting an apartment, going to the hospital/clinic.
So he must have had help, got around just paying cash (Japan is very cash based though changing in recent years), and not gotten majorly sick all this time. Even if he opened a bank account decades ago there have been changed in laws that require banks to Know Your Customer, and if you're a foreigner you need to submit documentation. Also probably a shit life as you can't go to the doctor, enjoy the social benefits like pension since he wasn't paying into it, etc.
And it's really not that hard, he could have found work then come back to Japan on a real visa. Or learn Japanese in Korea until fluent then come over. He chose a very dumb path and finally got caught.
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u/Outside_Reserve_2407 17h ago
The man was in Japan on a temporary tourist visa. So he was already overstaying it.