Why don't Japanese people commit crime?
Japan is a vibrant modern country, with a population of 127 million people and compared to other
industrialised nations it has an unusually low crime rate.
In fact, Japan's violent crime rate has steadily been declining since the 1950s
and question is why?
It appears to be a combination of four main factors:
Their unique culture, the low rates of gun ownership,
their efficient legal system and their wealth.
Unique culture.
The Japanese culture is renowned for the value
it places on honour and discipline. Commiting a crime carries a huge social stigma.
This nonviolent attitude and philosophy seems to have been strengthened after World War II,
when the Americans detonated two atomic bombs over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The devastation caused by the bombings led the country to reject violence.
Low rates of gun ownership.
Gun ownership is heavily legislated in Japan
In order to buy a gun an applicant must go through rigorous background checks, their
mental health must be screened, they must go through sobriety tests and they have to
take an all day class and pass an exam. Even after buying a gun there are strict regulations
to adhere to; the gun owner must tell the police the exact location of their gun and
ammunition, both of these must be stored securely and separately, the gun owner must submit
their firearm for annual police checks and finally the gun owner will need to retake
the class every three years. As a result of the restrictions only 1 in
175 households own a gun in Japan as opposed to 1 in 3 in the US.
Efficient legal system.
Japan has an eyebrow-raisingly efficient legal
system with: 95% of suspects confessing to a crime,
98% of homicides reported to having been solved
and over 99% of court cases resulting in a conviction.
But questions are raised when each of these figures are looked into more closely.
95% of suspects confessing to a crime. Japan's harsh interrogation process is weighted
heavily in favour of the police and that coupled with the extreme sense of shame a person can
feel of having been suspected of a crime in Japan may lead to false confessions.
98% of homicides reported to have been solved. Former Japanese detectives have claimed that
police are reluctant to investigate homicides that are not clear cut.
The police want to keep their crime statis low so more problematic homicide cases may
be categorised as suicides and this could be a contributing factor as to why Japan has
such a high suicide rate.
Another violent crime, sexual assaults are also said to be widespread and are severely
underreported in Japan. Police have been criticised for not taking
reports of sexual assaults seriously enough owing to innate male bias and or the inability
to sufficiently investigate this type of crime.
Over 99% of court cases result in a conviction. There are no juries in Japan, instead a panel
of judges decide the individual's fate. The court system incentivises Judges to process
cases quickly which results in speedier and more frequent convictions but that leads to
concern that justice is not always served.
And finally we look at the last factor that contributes to Japan's low crime rate -
their wealth.
Japan has a thriving economy, with low rates of poverty and unemployment.
The country as a whole is prosperous and pockets of underprivilege leading to discontent, drug
use and crime is unusual.
And that concludes our enquiry as to why Japanese people don't commit crime.
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