NCJ Number
74382
Date Published
1980
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Crime rates in some large Japanese cities are compared with those in New York, London, England; Paris, France; and West Berlin, Germany; reasons for the lower Japanese crime rate are given.
Abstract
In 1978, the crime rates for murder, robbery, rape, and theft were significantly lower in the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka than in the Western cities of New York, London, Paris, and West Berlin. The Japanese White Paper on crime for 1977 attributes the low rate and stable condition of crime in Japan to economic growth, good living conditions, high levels of education, a homogeneous society, effective law enforcement, and strong informal social controls by families and local communities. A unique characteristic of Japan's economic growth is a simultaneously low unemployment rate, which has risen from 1.2 percent to 2.3 percent in the past 10 years. Also, the wealth and profits of economic growth have been distributed comparatively equally among the population. The Japanese police show a good crime clearance rate, and controls on guns and drugs are stringent. A hunting gun or sword may be possessed with the permission of the public safety commission, but handguns are allowed only to police. As a result, crime with guns are few in Japan compared to other countries. Although the abuse of stimulant drugs is a serious problem, the abuse of hard drugs is negligible. Even though urbanization in Japan is occurring rapidly, family and community influences remain strong. While Japan does not have a serious crime problem, some areas where crime is beyond tolerable levels are the increase of juveniles committing nontraffic penal code offenses, an increase in the number of juveniles committing minor thefts, the rise in female offenders, and the growing number of crimes committed by gangs. Graphic data on the crime rates in major Japanese and Western cities are provided, along with footnotes. For related articles, see NCJ 74380.