While cutlery such as kitchen knives and scissors were used in over 90 percent of cleared homicide cases, gun usage did not exceed one percent in 2020. The assassination of Abe Shinzo in July 2022 highlighted Japan's particularly small number of gun shootings and gun deaths.
The most frequently occurring crime in the nation has continued to be theft, making up the majority of the recorded cases.
In respect of Japan's apparent success in preventing and controlling crime, Japan is famed as a “low-crime nation”. People leave their bags on café chairs when going to the bathroom, confident the bag will not be stolen.
Japan maintains near-perfect homicide clearance rates (around 95%, compared with roughly 60% in the United States). This study explored possible explanations for higher homicide clearance rates in Japan than in the United States.
The last executions have prompted no public debate. According to polls, the majority of Japanese people support the death penalty, and there are very few vocal abolitionists. Japan is one of the only industrialized country to retain capital punishment, along with the U.S. and South Korea.
All jurisdictions in Australia abolished the death penalty by 1985. In 2010, the Australian government passed legislation that prohibited the reintroduction of capital punishment.
Most offenses are tried first in district courts before one or three judges, depending on the severity of the case. Defendants are protected from self-incrimination, forced confession, and unrestricted admission of hearsay evidence. In addition, defendants have the right to counsel, public trial, and cross-examination.
It is said that the conviction rate in Japan is over 99%. The high conviction rate in Japan is not because of forced convictions, but because prosecutors prosecute cases after thoroughly examining whether a crime can be proven. It is the prosecutor who decides whether or not to prosecute a case.
Other than the police and the military, no one in Japan may purchase a handgun or a rifle. Hunters and target shooters may possess shotguns and airguns under strictly circumscribed conditions. The police check gun licensees' ammunition inventory to make sure there are no shells or pellets unaccounted for.
This has been attributed by some researchers to, amongst other factors, extremely low levels of gun ownership (1 in 175 households), a greater chance of detection (according to police data, 98 per cent of homicide cases are solved), the rejection of violence after the Second World War, the growth of affluence without ...
The police in Japan recorded 874 murder cases in 2021.
The cultural explanation is simplistic. Explaining low crime with culture is to say that collectivist traits like group-orientation, inclination towards harmony, and high self-control are why the Japanese do not murder, assault, and steal from each other as much as others in different countries.
Iceland. Iceland is the safest country in the world according to the latest Global Peace Index data.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Japan. It is applied in practice only for aggravated murder, although it is also a legal penalty for certain crimes against the state, such as treason and military insubordination, as well as kidnapping resulting in death.
Tokyo is the fifth safest city in the world per the Safe City Index 2021. For comparison, New York City ranks twelfth, Washington DC fourteenth, and London fifteenth.
Three largest syndicates
The Yamaguchi-gumi is the largest Yakuza family, accounting for 30% of all Yakuza in Japan, with 4,000 members and 4,500 quasi-members as of 2021. From its headquarters in Kobe, it directs criminal activities throughout Japan. It is also involved in operations in Asia and the United States.
Major universities have rifle clubs, and Japanese police are armed, but gun ownership rights have been a distant issue for decades. Even police rarely resort to firing their pistols.
Carrying knives, firearms, etc. is controlled by the “Swords and Firearms Control Law”. It is illegal to carry a blade of any kind exceeding 6 cm, without justifiable grounds. Persons violating this law face imprisonment with work for up to 2 years or a fine of up to 300,000 yen.
Freedom in the World — Japan Country Report
Japan is rated Free in Freedom in the World 2022, Freedom House's annual study of political rights and civil liberties worldwide.
The legal system of Japan is based upon civil law. Under Japanese criminal law, the accused is innocent until proven guilty and the burden of proof rests with the prosecutor. The defendant must be given the benefit of the doubt.
Nearly all criminal cases that go to trial in Japan end in a guilty verdict. Two veteran legal scholars explain how Japan came to have a 99.9% conviction rate and examine the issues facing Japanese prisons.
Most inmates are put in community cells, which hold 6-12 inmates. The rooms are Japanese-style, which means inmates sleep on Japanese futons, and the flooring is tatami. Sometimes foreign inmates are placed separately in Western-style rooms with beds, or Japanese-style solitary cells.
Shoplifting is one of the most commonly seen crimes in Japan. It is punishable as theft by up to 10 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 500,000 yen (about 5000 USD).