Crime in Japan

You always hear that Japan is one of the safest countries or has a really low crime rate which is for the most part true, but let’s not turn a blind eye to reality. Bad things happen in every country. Yes, for the most part I feel completely safe walking alone at night in Japan whereas I don’t in America, but that doesn’t stop me from taking precautions…especially since I’m foreign and stand out.

The point of this post is to raise awareness for those living and traveling in Japan (whether you are Japanese or foreign). I don’t want bad things to happen to my friends or anyone else. So hopefully by explaining a few bad experiences I’ve had with crime in Japan, it will make you think twice before assuming that because it’s Japan, you don’t have to worry.

I have already mentioned in a previous post about how I am sometimes grabbed (sexually harassed) by men at bars/clubs and sometimes even on the train or in the street, but like I explained in that post, I sometimes put myself in those kind of situations by going to clubs in the first place. No, it’s not ok, but it’s something I assume might (and probably will) happen when entering a club. I accept the risk. If you don’t want to risk being touched, don’t go to clubs. Also, as hard as it may be sometimes (because trains can get so crowded), try to be aware of your surroundings and look confident. This goes for walking on the streets too. I’ve had friends who have been followed home by people before. I find myself looking behind me constantly when I am walking alone at night. It doesn’t hurt to be a little precautious. If someone is ever following you, walk towards the nearest police box! Don’t risk it! If someone ever tries to get close to you, touch you, or attack you, don’t be afraid to run, yell, or fight.

This next part doesn’t really have to do with a personal experience, but I read the Japanese news every day. For some reason it always seems to frighten me more than the American news. I talked to one of my coworkers about this, and she suggested that because America is such a big country, you only hear big national news whereas since Japan is small, you hear a lot more small detailed events. Perhaps this is true to some extent.

 In any case, there are two reasons Japanese news freaks me out more than American news. First, the way people die in Japan seems to be a lot more varied, and for some reason, a lot of it is just really gruesome. I’ve read so many stories of middle aged people killing their elderly parents or young parents killing their infants; the reason being that they don’t want to care for them. In Japan, there are no guns, so methods of killing seem to be more…creative. There’s a lot of strangling, knife stabbing, and…I rather not go into detail. For me personally, when I read the American news and hear about so and so shooting so and so, it doesn’t seem as frightening as “threw off of an 8^th floor balcony.” I’m not saying crazy sh*t doesn’t happen in the U.S., but I swear every day I read the news in Japan there is something weird and horrifying like that. Today, in the news, two people froze to death in their home (what did I tell you about Japanese homes not having good heat or insulation?!).

Anyway, the second reason Japanese news freaks me out is because the stereotype we have of Japan. We imagine all these super polite, hardworking people who would never act out of line…and then you see on the news that a crazy ex-boyfriend followed this ex-girlfriend home and stabbed her after sending her hateful emails for months. I don’t know. It’s like I expect Americans to behave out of line or something.

So on to more personal experiences. Recently, at the club I always go to, two of my friends had their wallets/money stolen! I couldn’t believe it! I’ve been to this club around 30 times, and I had never had a problem before except with perverts. In fact, I’d never heard of people being robbed in Japan like that. It's important to realize that it can happen though. Like I said before, no matter where you are, you should always be cautious...especially if you've been drinking. My whole life I have always been kind of obsessed about being victimized. I constantly think about it, therefore I am usually pretty cautious. On this night, I locked my purse, wallet, etc. in a locker like usual. My friends had their wallets in their purses around their shoulder. Now I don’t blame my friends for getting their wallets stolen, but it probably could've been prevented if they locked up their bags or just brought in their wallets and carried them in their hand. From this paragraph, please take this away: Lock up your stuff when you go to concerts, clubs, etc. Put only what you need in your pockets or carry it in your hand. Don’t carry things with you that you don’t need like an excess amount of money, passports, driver’s licenses from your home country, etc.

Still on the topic of thieves, I actually hear about people having their bikes stolen quite often. I’m not sure how this happens exactly. Perhaps they leave their bikes unlocked or the thief breaks the lock. I used to leave my bike unlocked when running into the grocery store because I thought Japan was safe, but now I always lock it when I’m not using it. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

Lastly, fighting in the streets is a pretty rare occurrence here (probably because of the super strict rules against hitting someone). Police have the right to beat anyone who is acting out of line with their batons. Police also have the right to hold you overnight in jail without a reason. In other words, police are super powerful in this country, so squabbles and unorderly (is that a word?) conduct doesn’t happen that often. My friend once told me that when he was studying abroad he saw some foreigners in the street getting into a bad fist fight, and the police came in with their batons and started beating them. Yikes! One thing I did see in person recently which was actually very surprising was a fight between a man and a woman in the street. It wasn’t that horrible because the man wasn’t fighting back, but there was this woman in a kimono smacking the guy she was with in the face with her purse and screaming at him. It was right near Kitashinchi station in front of many people. Most people just pretended they didn’t notice it happening and kept walking, but you better believe I stopped and watched, being the foreigner that I am lol.

So here are just a few examples of crime in Japan. Overall it is a safer place than many other countries, but I think that you shouldn’t treat it that way. You should always be as cautious as you are in your home country, and don’t think nothing bad can happen to you because if you have that mentality, something likely will. Cheers! Lol.