NCJ Number
198917
Date Published
2002
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology 2002 held in Chicago examines whether the Japanese media is providing an accurate picture to the Japanese public on current crime trends.
Abstract
Since the economic slump of the 1990's, Japan appears to be losing confidence in the ability of the criminal justice system to deal effectively with a perceived increase in crime. A public attitude survey in 2000 showed that the proportion of the public who thought public safety (crime) was getting worse had increased from 19 percent in 1998 to 27 percent in 2000. Also, during the same time period, Japanese newspapers focused on a rising trend of youth violence questioning whether Japan’s status as a low crime country was a myth or reality. This paper attempts to examine whether the Japanese media is presenting an accurate picture to the Japanese public on the current crime trends. The paper outlines several reasons as to why it is thought that the increase in recorded crime is more apparent than real crime creating a current “moral panic” about rising crime in Japan. Factors are examined that appear to affect the Japanese public’s fear of crime, specifically their attitudes to the police. The paper concludes by offering an explanation of the current level of fear of crime in Japan by reassessing the traditional focus on the similarities and differences between Japan and other developed nations. There is a need for both academics and Japanese policymakers to reduce fear of crime by looking in different places as opposed to those traditionally concentrated on.