Japan has Very Little Crime

How safe Japan is is one of the main things you'll hear about it a lot. Japanese crime rates are incredibly low. In Japan, crime actually decreased for the 17th year in a row in 2020, which is incredible. However, there are certain regrettable truths that are frequently ignored when trying to comprehend crime in Japan.

Murder and other violent crimes are absolutely rare in Japan. However, some statistics are concerning. The statistics on sexual assault stand out in particular. It's expected that women will be touched inappropriately by strangers on the metro. According to estimates from the government, less than 95% of sexual assault events are reported to the police. That figure is startlingly high and strikes at the core of a significant and persistent cultural issue.

In Japan, discussions about sexual assault, and rape in particular, are taboo. Even worse, authorities give victims the impression that they are at fault. In certain instances, they make crime victims who come forward perform the crimes in front of the investigators using life-size dummies.

In Japan, there have been issues with even the definition of rape. Up until 2017, only a guy invading a woman's vagina qualified as rape under Japanese law. The definition didn't apply to anything else. Even when the term was altered, it still required the use of force or intimidation. So anyone who was under the influence of drugs or didn't resist was not legally raped either. Because of this, it is not always easy to interpret crime figures in Japan.

Additionally, confession plays a significant role in Japanese justice. Suspects can be kept in custody for almost a month, and questioning amounts to torture. Real figures are difficult to ascertain, and false confessions are commonplace.