Japan is a Safe Place... Japan is a Safe Place...

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Originally Posted by Arrianna

You shouldn't be.

A few years ago I was in a conversation concerning crime in Japan as compared with other first world countries so I decided to do a little research. I was a little surprised to discover that their crime rate is actually just as high as the rest of us once population density is taken into account. (The actual measure rather then population ratio's. Small spread out area's have less crime then densely compact ones.) I had expected the rate to be quite lower due to the difference in culture and their focus on public shame as a deterrent. Instead I discovered that the cultural difference just changed the face of the crime and the homicide rating was just as high as the rest but was reported differently to save face. In Japan most people who commit homicides kill themselves as well (to save face) however if they kill themselves or are killed by the authorities then they and everyone they killed are listed as suicides (so the authorities can save face too)... and now you know why the suicide rate for Japan is so high. It's not just their teenagers freaking out over school.

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Funny, becuase I always assumed the suicide rate in Japan couldn't possibly be so high due to just teenagers and their frustration/anxiety over school. I never heard or read anything to prove otherwise up until today.

I can imagine that crime will be the same no matter where you go (provided they have a decent economic system; I highly doubt a third world country is worried about stealing panties and stalkin' chicks with night vision cameras, LOL.)

I mean, saying Japan is safer than the US is like saying Iraq is safer than anywhere else. :laugh: Or, like saying that Hell has six inches of snowfall a year. LOL.

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Originally Posted by tsurara

I'm a little flustered that someone can read a few isolated net studies and call it "research" when two degrees in Japanese Sociology and History apparently count for bupkis since I'm obviously being lied to :P

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:laugh:, they weren't net studies but studies on crime that were also published on the net. It is hard to find research on crime linked to population density since most research is based on percentage of total population. It took me a long time to gather all the facts and I read more studies (including government studies) then I would care to think about. I should have kept the studies but I didn't, my bad. As I said believe it or not, your choice, though I am amused that when I back up your belief that Japan isn't as safe as you are told all of a sudden I am the one who is wrong. :laugh:

Either way I have to agree with Hussan, "You must never let fear get to you Tsurara." Even if the crime rates are comparable the types of crimes are different and I don't think you should live in fear either. The chances of anything happening to you is small as long as you are smart and I get the impression you are very smart.

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Originally Posted by atomik_sprout

Funny, becuase I always assumed the suicide rate in Japan couldn't possibly be so high due to just teenagers and their frustration/anxiety over school.

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Most suicides in Japan are middle-aged to elderly men affected by the collapse of the bubble economy or company downsizing. A great number are among the unemployed homeless, those driven into debt by shady lending agencies, or those who have failed to live up to society's expectations for them.

Teenage sucide is relatively rare.

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I mean, saying Japan is safer than the US is like saying Iraq is safer than anywhere else. :laugh: Or, like saying that Hell has six inches of snowfall a year. LOL.

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If Hell existed and actually DID have six inches of snow a year: sure.

Japan is safer than the US... in terms of frequency, mortality, etc.
Hassun is right that you can wander around after dark in a big city and will rarely run into any sort of trouble at all...

The question is: does that make Japan a safe country?

Is our ability to walk around after dark a symptom of the reassurance that Japan is safe and the resulting lack of fear... or is it based on the actual reality that nothing is likely to ever happen to you?

As for not letting the fear get to me: I went to a movie that got out at 11pm, biked to the net cafe in the dark and slept in a public cubicle with no door. I think I'm doing okay... doesn't mean I'm not still annoyed that the rumor that "there is no crime in Japan" is still so common. When something violent happens, I'm still shocked... and the seemingly brutal and random nature of violent crimes in Japan unsettles me.

There's a difference between confidence and stupidity.

There IS a slasher running around my city right now... and a known murderer of foreign women floating around somewhere in a country the size of California. Every time I see someone of either description, I steer clear or make a plan for counter-attack... just in case.

I've been stalked twice, groped a handful of times and sexually assaulted once. Japan is not a safe country. It is a relatively safe country.

There's a difference.

Of course the "there is no crime in our country" crap is just that. Crap.
Not having a lot of crime for a long time makes one complacent. And that's where the danger is. When you start denying the truth to keep your precious little "everything is fine" fantasy image the problems start stacking.
Like the general view that Japan is a completely homogeneous society or that most criminals are foreigners. The Japanese seem to have more difficulty than the average Westerner to acknowledge certain negative aspects in their society. And not acknowledging a problem only leads to the problem getting worse.

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Originally Posted by tsurara

I've been stalked twice, groped a handful of times and sexually assaulted once. Japan is not a safe country. It is a relatively safe country.

There's a difference.

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"Relatively" I will grant you. While Japan matched other major countries in crime it was on the low end of average. Still not the crime free zone people try and claim. Since I myself have never been "stalked twice, groped a handful of times and sexually assaulted once" I really don't have a point of reference to understand your POV. I did have my apartment broken into once and... nope, that's it. If there was a known slasher in my city I know I would be a lot less calm then you seem to be.

[Edit: sorry. I was tired yesterday and somehow missed this sentence in your post.

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Originally Posted by tsurara

murder-suicide rates are not currently recorded by any census/statistics bureaus so its difficult to find anything more on the subject than hearsay. A search yeilds no papers or studies done on murder-suicide in Japan... only a handful of articles detailing cases of murder-suicide.

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You are absolutely correct on that. The studies I read had to estimate and take into account that murder/suicides in Japan are actually recorded as group/family suicide. There is no way to know the actual number so the best you can do is take into account suicide rates for all the countries as well as Japans and even then all you get is an estimate. It took me days to find what little I did (on that specific subject) so I am not surprised you found nada. However the stats on crime in general there were still in the low average for a developed nation, which was actually my point and I am afraid it has gotten lost in the middle of this. /Edit]

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Originally Posted by Hassun

And not acknowledging a problem only leads to the problem getting worse.

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All to true. I wish more people were willing to call a spade a spade without worrying about offending everyone. The world would be a lot safer.

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Originally Posted by tsurara

Teenage sucide is relatively rare.

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Yeah but didn't they make a big deal out of teenagers killing themselves because of bullying on the Japanese news Tsurara?

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Originally Posted by Shodokan

Yeah but didn't they make a big deal out of teenagers killing themselves because of bullying on the Japanese news Tsurara?

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They make a big deal out of child-murder in the US too.

That doesn't mean it's common, only that it's shocking and makes better news than "old homeless bum commits suicide quietly in the park" or "destitute old woman with no family overdoses on sleeping pills in her own home"

The United States actually has a higher teen suicide rate than Japan.

Teen Suicide

I reckon no place is as safe as anyone thinks. I mean, here in NYC it's even weirder, because all the New Yorkers I meet swear NYC is extreeeemely safe. I don't know. Maybe foreigners radiate some kind of "come and get me" aura, because I personally have NOT come to believe that NYC is safe!!!!! +_+

Japan - well. Stuff happens. I've never really been to the more rowdy parts of Japan, so I can't say. I lived in Meitoh, in Nagoya, which was nice and... safe, I guess. Nothing happened to me while I was there, and there never were any stories in school about people getting mugged, or harassed on the train, or followed, or anything like that. But when a relative of my classmate's came from Tokyo to visit over winter break, and asked me how I liked Japan, I said I found the place really safe, and she was like, "No no no!! Don't say that! You're lucky you're in a safe neighborhood, but if you lived where I live, you wouldn't say the same thing. And you're Asian, so you look like the rest of us, so it's not like they wouldn't target you or anything..." (well, something along those lines)

*shrugs* I have foreigners telling me things like, "Malaysia is such a wonderful place! So harmonious, so safe....." and I'm like, "Are you out of your f*cking mind??"