Video #8 - Japan Security Industry
Monday, January 09, 2006BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Crimes, particularly thefts, typically increase during economic hard times, so Japan's prolonged recession may be a key factor behind the rise of crime statistics there. However, this has not been matched by a commensurate rise in arrests and prosecutions. Since 1997, Japan's overall percentage of crimes solved has fallen alarmingly. In 1997, authorities cleared 40% of reported crimes. In the first eleven months of 1998, cleared just 24.2 %, a 15.8% drop in four years. The clearance rate for serious crimes (armed robbery, arson, murder, kidnapping, rape, etc.) fell from 87.6 in 1997 to 69.9 percent last year; by category: aggravated assaults, from 73.9 to 61.7 percent; white-collar crime, from 94.3 to 81.0 percent; vice, from 90.6 to 60.6 percent; and thefts, from 35.2 to 19.8 percent.
That compares unfavorably with other industrialized nations. In 1998, Germany had a 52.3 % clearance rate, Britain 29.3%, and France 28.7. The United States had a 21.3 % clearance rate. That worries Japan, because at its 24.2% rate, it is drawing dangerously close to what is considered a "lawless, gun-happy, wild frontier," according to Mark Schreiber of the Mainichi Daily News. 24.2 % means that 1.69 million crimes committed in 2000 didn't get solved.
The growth of robberies and thefts rose by more than 50,000 in 2000-- to a total of 385,717. Akio Kuroki, a former Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department officer who is now a journalist, points out that "late-night crimes such as break-ins, purse snatchings, auto theft, street robberies ...are hard to solve unless the perpetrator is caught in the act." The proliferation of convenience stores and gangs of youths hanging out late into the night has also generated new crimes that are more difficult to clear. Also influencing the statistics are changing perceptions. Many crimes that went unreported in the past are now entered onto the police blotter. Perhaps because of the recession, people feel a greater sense of loss and report the theft. Additionally, Kuroki notes, "There's also a greater awareness of what constitutes a violation. Previously, illegal acts by chikan (gropers on trains) or stalkers, for example, were not prosecuted. With new laws in effect, victims take the initiative. This is contributing to the overflow." There are also lock-picking burglaries, committed mostly by illegal foreigners, which reached 27,741 cases in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures alone.
The unexplained surge in violent juvenile crime is very alarming to many Japanese. The number of juveniles indicted for serious violent crimes such as murder, rape and armed robbery soared 51.3 percent in 1997, says the National Police Agency. "Many people view the decline of the education system and juvenile delinquency more seriously than the economic crisis," said Kaori Kuroda, the assistant Japan representative for the Asia Foundation, a U.S. nonprofit group. "People are scared about what is going to happen with this society."
SOURCES:
Jones, Gregg, "Japanese fear economy not sole problem: Crime, scandal, suicides adding to country's woes." Dallas Morning News, July 22, 1998. Schreiber, Mark, "Waiwai: Crime wave: According to the latest crime statistics, Japan used to be a safe place to live…" Mainichi Daily News, February 4, 2001. Struck, Doug, "Gun Use Intrudes on Japanese Serenity; Gang Violence, Wider Distribution of Arms Raise Fears in Safety-Conscious Nation." The Washington Post, August 11, 2000, Page A 17. Wehrfritz, George and Hideko Takayama, "Battling a New Breed of Criminal." Newsweek International, February 21, 2000, Page 20.
LESSON PLAN
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:
10-12/Economics, International Relations, World History, International Bachelaurate Programs (IB), Current Events.
PURPOSE:
To present activities to be used at a variety of classroom situations in order to enhance student understanding of the Japanese economy and its significance globally.
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:
- Research the crime rate in Japan for the past ten years.
- Compare and contrast Japan's crime rate with that of other industrialized nations.
- Describe measures taken by Japanese police to decrease the incidence of crime.
- Investigate methods of crime prevention used in other industrialized nations.
- Recommend possible solutions to the increased crime rate in Japan.
MATERIALS:
- Background information provided.
- Resources on Japan available at your school's Media Center and the Public Library System in your area.
- Background information available through Internet "search engines".
ACTIVITIES:
May be assigned as group activities or as individual tasks. They may also be designed as preparation for related presentations either by individuals or groups.
- Prepare charts and graphs illustrating the rise of different types of crimes in Japan.
- Assign different types of crime to cooperative learning groups for investigation. Allow individual students in the group to research the reasons for the rise of these crimes in Japan, research similar occurrences in other industrialized nations and recommend ways to lower their incidence. Students may report their findings using written reports or class presentations.
- Write a diary entry impersonating a Japanese juvenile whose case you have researched.
- Create a panel discussion using the experts from all the above groups to present their findings and answer questions from the audience.
- Research how much of the crime wave in Japan is actually caused by foreigners. Write an editorial expressing your views on this issue.
EVALUATION:
Individual assignments should be graded by the teacher using established criteria.
Group activities, presentations and projects may be evaluated by teachers and students using the following criteria and scale:
Content
Creativity
Clarity
1 = Superior (A) 2 = Excellent (B) 3 = Good (C) 4 = Fair (D) 5 = Poor (F)
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