Why Are Japan's Crime Rates So Low?

Edo Naito February 1, 2020

An attorney from outside of Japan asked me the following question: “My question is what factors influence the making of low crime rate in Japan. I am wondering how much history plays in the low crime rate.”

A complex question indeed. Japan ranks #208 in the world in terms of crimes per 100K population. Even better if only the most serious crimes are counted. So why indeed are Japanese so law-abiding?

Assuming we are talking about the present then I would start with social-economic factors. Japan does not have massive income gaps that lead to large groups of economic have and have nots. The "bell curve" in Japan would be much taller with much smaller groups on both ends as compared to many countries. It is relatively more egalitarian in terms of the income distribution than in many countries. The tax structure for income tax, gift tax and estate tax pretty much assures a more level playing field than elsewhere. Employment is consistently pretty low. Japanese do NOT flaunt wealth even when they have it as that invites anger and jealousy.

Japan has national health insurance that covers every person and additional senior coverage for those over 65 years of age and a national pension program that provides a minimum social net. The security net is hardly perfect and funding this as the population ages and declines is one of the ongoing growing challenges but it is a challenge recognized to be everyone's to address.

Japanese are universally literate and access to educational opportunity is universal across all regions in Japan. Having a literate educated population has positive impacts on crime rates. Japanese schools also teach the value of equality and teamwork – through joint cleaning of the school, working together to serve meals in the cafeteria, sports teams, etc. Elitism is not a feature seen much in Japan.

Culturally, the Japanese are quite respectful of each other. That in part comes from taking about 100M people and pushing them into a land area of about 50Km wide and about 300Km long - Chiba to Kobe along the Pacific coast. When you have such population densities over extended periods of time people must learn to get along and respect each other’s space.

But there is also a spiritual aspect. Japanese do not appear to be religious but over the millennia they have shown to be deeply spiritual in their core makeup. Committing a crime places you outside of society. It is not only a personal shame but humiliates your family, your village or town as well as your ancestors. Does fear of a clear and certain punishment operate to stop someone from committing a crime or is the fear of shaming your family and your ancestors operate more powerfully? In Japan, it may be the latter.

Historically, the Japanese criminal justice system while harsh has also had a high degree of certainty that if a crime is committed punishment will follow. The justice system has over the centuries been broadly respected and supported by the population as a whole. Even today the average Japanese support the death penalty for aggravated murders. Polls conducted in the past 2 weeks had 82% supporting the death penalty and only 8% opposed.

Before the 1868 Meiji Restoration, criminal laws were very clear, very simple, very harsh and administered by local feudal lords. If you committed a crime you were quickly found, tried and swiftly punished. Japan has never had a drug culture.

From the Meiji period, Japan adopted criminal codes from France and Germany which were not the most liberal. After WWII, a layer of US criminal law was added to the mix. Japan has never had a pervasive gun culture. Samurai swords were required to be turned in after the last internal battles following the Meiji restoration in 1868 and all short and long guns and officer swords were turned in after WWII. Handguns are banned in Japan and controls over personal possession of a limited range of long guns or any sword are the toughest in the world and strictly monitored.

As noted above, regardless of the historical period, the average Japanese supported police authorities in helping to monitor their own neighborhoods. Neighborhoods in Japan even today watch out for each other. When a neighbor is away the neighbors watch over the house.

Having “Koban” - police boxes you see everywhere in Japan - supports this. Almost all neighbors know the local police officers in the local Koban and the officers know the neighbors. They go around periodically to introduce themselves door to door even today. Crime prevention is not just about the police but about neighbors working together and with the police to keep their neighborhood safe. This sense of cooperation and mutual support carries over into how neighbors organize trash collection, cleaning streets of leaves, etc.

I am quite sure that people will disagree with some or even many of the above statements. They are not meant to be absolute statements but to be directionally correct. Nor is this meant to suggest that Japan is perfect. There are a great many challenges. But when it comes to crime statistics, Japan fully deserves its reputation for being one of the safest countries in the world.

In short, there are a number of factors that come together to contribute to Japan having such low crime rates. Some of these features might be transferrable to other countries and some probably not.