Do you feel safe in Japan?

[Dutch Baka]

How safe do you feel in Japan compaired to your own or other countries?

I feel pretty safe in Japan especially with theft, street criminals, and the war on terror.

how about you?

[ArmandV]

Since I used to work in armed patrol in the U.S. ages ago, I know how bad crime is here.

I never had to worry about my safety while in Japan. I felt completely safe.

[Spyder93090]

Yeah, since I live in Los Angeles, California ... gangs are a problem. And like mentioned above, we do have terrorist threats from other countries.

So in Japan, I feel completely safe.

[Maciamo]

This is a bit difficult to answer because Japan is such a big country and safety varies according to where you are. I don't feel so safe in Kabukicho or Roppongi, but what should I worry about while hiking in the mountains apart from bears or landslides ?

In Belgium safety highly depends on the area. The countryside and small towns are as safe as in Japan. In big cities like Brussels, Liege or Antwerp, richer neighbourhood are very safe, while neighbourhoods with lots of poor immigrants are much less safe. There are Muslim ghettoes in Brussels where even the police is afraid to go. But areas inhabited by ethnic Belgians are usually as safe as the Japanese average.

As a foreigner in Japan I felt less "safe" (less "comfortable" actually) than if I were Japanese because of the way some people look at foreigners or are embarassed/unwilling to interact with them.

[Ewok85]

Physically I feel safe - my position as a foreigner means that people are not likely to single me out. I have however been hit (elbowed in the head) and had people want to fight me. More bizarre than dangerous.

On a mental level I feel far less safe than my own country. Japan runs on paperwork and long lists of convulted, contradicting rules and laws. To get my drivers licence in Japan I had to take a pile of paperwork and documents which outweigh what my girlfriend would require to get citizenship in Australia. Immigration is a joke with the amount of money, time and effort required. I have to carry a alien ID card which apart from singling me out as someone different also lists details that you normally wouldn't see (visa expiry, country entry date etc) and the government encourages normal people to dob me in if they think something is wrong.

Talking to my female friends not one of them has NOT had a run-in with a molester, some of them have encountered worse, and a smaller number have endured experiences that make me physically sick to hear about, yet the culture dictates that they simple "endure" (gaman) the problems.

Throw up ontop of the the rampant corruption and discrimination which makes me feel uneasy about being able to have a stable future in Japan and do things that I would take for granted in my own country.

[budd]

more trouble from other foreigners (iranian, pakistanian, middle eastern heritage,etc) than anybody else
i was watching the first episode of akihabara@deep and this exectutive that has hired these thugs to rough up various otaku for humilation videos... had two american bodyguards escorting him to meet the thugs to pay them for their services

[Nana007]

I was a lone woman traveling in Japan, and I felt 100% safe. Of course I didn't go to Roppongi or Kabukicho (I wanted to though :( but knew that was asking for trouble)

[Uchite]

Much safer than anywhere else in the world.


You still have to be careful though. Especially now. There are a lot of little yakuza wannabes out there.


But the biggest troublemakers in Japan are the foreigners whose lack of manners and lack of general etiquette ruin it for the rest of us. That is in a word, that most Japanese women and elderly people don't trust us because of a few idiots.

[perrier]

I don't feel safe at all in Japan.

First, there is always earthquake. Every month.
Earthquake is frequently is being taken place than any other nation of the world.

Secondly, there are so many drug addicts (junks among teens) in Tokyo and Yokohama.
Also, there are many theft and burglars everywhere in Japan.

Additionbally, there are many cults in Japan killing people for no reason.
Japan is very dangerous place. There are thousands of cult in japan and kill so many people.

[nurizeko]

At the risk of sounding a bit un-PC and stuff, I felt more at risk from Japanese authorities then of actual crime TBH.

I felt quite safe I must say.

[gaijinalways]

I generally feel safe in Japan from violent crime though, I still tend to watch for pickpockets. I grew up in the suburbs in the US, my parents still don't usually lock their door. Contrast that with living in Tokyo, well, let's say we lock up to avoid 'unwanted' guests.

As to earthquakes, I don't worry about them.

[Ewok85]

At the risk of sounding a bit un-PC and stuff, I felt more at risk from Japanese authorities then of actual crime TBH.
I felt quite safe I must say.

Cant see how that is un-PC, as thats exactly how I feel. I recently renewed my visa but my alien card has a now expired date on the front (and correct on the back).

Makes for all kinds of fun whenever I show it to people - ie. the police officers at the drivers licence center ;)

[Maciamo]

I generally feel safe in Japan from violent crime though, I still tend to watch for pickpockets.
Funny, I had the exact opposite impression. I would say that petty crimes of 'need' (like pickpocketing, mugging...) are rare in Japan, but emotional crimes like murders of passion (always between people who know each others well) or vice/mental problem are very common compared to my country. There isn't a month I have spent in Japan without hearing of horrendous murders, like children killing their parents in their sleep, school children killing each others, someone shooting the whole neighbours' family because they were too noisy, a mother poisoning her husband and friends at a party, etc.

There have been so many twisted or shocking crimes like that in Japan that they have compiled several books about them like Tokyo Confidential (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/archive/news/2001/10/20011014p2g00m0dm998000c.html) or Shocking Crimes of Postwar Japan (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4900737348/sr=8-6/qid=1155799218/ref=sr_1_6/104-9995679-7411115?ie=UTF8).

In comparison, in Belgium, when there is one 17-year old stabbed and killed by another teenager to stea his MP3 playerl in a station, it makes national news for 2 weeks and get the Prime Minister to make a speech about it on TV and take increase the number of policemen in train and metro stations in all Brussels !
I grew up in the suburbs in the US, my parents still don't usually lock their door. Contrast that with living in Tokyo, well, let's say we lock up to avoid 'unwanted' guests.
I am always amazed when I hear this. The US has higher crime rates than almost any other develope country, and yet it is one of the rare country (with Canada) where I have heard that people didn't lock their doors. Japan is not special for people locking their doors (same anywhere else where I have lived), North America is ! (well according to Michael Moore, Canadians lock their doors much less than Americans).

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

I sleep without locking a door.:relief:
I forget to always lock a door.
The number of the crime outbreak of Fukuoka,
It is the eighth ranking in Japan.
Moreover, The region where I live is the worst top in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Two once a year,
A murder case happens.:shock:

[Dutch Baka]

I live in the Rokko area ( kobe) and just a couple of blocks away is the HQ of the Yamaguchi gumi ( the largest mafia organisation of the world), and because of that there are a lot of cops in this area, and no punks that try to do some dirty stuff. So yeah I feel safe with the look at crime.

Thanks for the input you guys!

[nurizeko]

Funny, I had the exact opposite impression. I would say that petty crimes of 'need' (like pickpocketing, mugging...) are rare in Japan, but emotional crimes like murders of passion (always between people who know each others well) or vice/mental problem are very common compared to my country. There isn't a month I have spent in Japan without hearing of horrendous murders, like children killing their parents in their sleep, school children killing each others, someone shooting the whole neighbours' family because they were too noisy, a mother poisoning her husband and friends at a party, etc.
There have been so many twisted or shocking crimes like that in Japan that they have compiled several books about them like Tokyo Confidential (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/archive/news/2001/10/20011014p2g00m0dm998000c.html) or Shocking Crimes of Postwar Japan (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4900737348/sr=8-6/qid=1155799218/ref=sr_1_6/104-9995679-7411115?ie=UTF8).
In comparison, in Belgium, when there is one 17-year old stabbed and killed by another teenager to stea his MP3 playerl in a station, it makes national news for 2 weeks and get the Prime Minister to make a speech about it on TV and take increase the number of policemen in train and metro stations in all Brussels !
I am always amazed when I hear this. The US has higher crime rates than almost any other develope country, and yet it is one of the rare country (with Canada) where I have heard that people didn't lock their doors. Japan is not special for people locking their doors (same anywhere else where I have lived), North America is ! (well according to Michael Moore, Canadians lock their doors much less than Americans).


This could be argued to be mainly caused by the living standards in Japan, which you are familiar with and have discussed in length before.

I agree that crimes of passion seem more a deal in Japan then normal petty crime, though I also can see how its easily "encouraged".

Everyone has a breaking point, it just depends how much you dump on them, Tokyo isnt the most relaxing city around. :relief:

Again, I still generally felt more at risk from the authorities then crime, and as a habit I'm always careful with property on me at any given time.

[DoctorP]

I feel extremely safe in Japan. I never feel a need to look over my shoulder, rarely lock the door, always leave my car unlocked. I have many valuable tools and gadgets left unsecured outside my home.

[Maciamo]

I feel extremely safe in Japan. I never feel a need to look over my shoulder, rarely lock the door, always leave my car unlocked. I have many valuable tools and gadgets left unsecured outside my home.

1) Okinawa isn't really Japan (a bit like Hawaii isn't really the USA).

2) A (US) soldier shouldn't really be the kind of person to be afraid of his security in a country at peace. In Japan's case it is more often the Japanese who are afraid of US soldiers than the opposite...

[DoctorP]

1) Okinawa isn't really Japan (a bit like Hawaii isn't really the USA).

Funny, I've said the same thing many times, only to be corrected many times as well. Okinawa is Okinawa...not Japan, in my opinion. Never was Japan, never will be Japan. However, I did the same things while living in mainland, both in the city and in the countryside.


2) A (US) soldier shouldn't really be the kind of person to be afraid of his security in a country at peace.


Nice point, but I am not a soldier. The point that I was making is that I feel safe in Japan...I wouldn't feel so safe walking in New York, LA, Houston, or Miami alone late at night.

In Japan's case it is more often the Japanese who are afraid of US soldiers than the opposite...

But is that the question here? Were you afraid in Japan because of the US presence? Or was there another reason?

[JapanLover]

Well... I always feel way much safer in Tokyo than in my Country, Italy. I live in Rome and every year, when I am in Tokyo to me is like going to heaven (in terms or crime, but even in term of how much I like Japan :cool: ).

I also don't understand why a lot of ppl here say they don't feel safe in Roppongi or Kabukicho. Not so practical of K. but about roppongi.. I do feel safe. Of course there's nore chaos, but I really don't feel unsafe...

[misa.j]

Some of the Japanese people's unpredictable behaviors used to make me nervous. I've seen men(not just one man) getting angry and violent suddenly in the middle of a train station or on the street, or a guy walking down the street totally naked in the morning.

I actually feel safer and more relaxed where I live now. People in this town are way more laid-back and friendlier than some Japanese people. Although, we get the tourists from other cities or states who can be jerks...

[yamada]

Emotional problems start violence crimes.

[Kamakiri]

Last time I lived in Japan I was a 22yo female and I felt totally safe everywhere I went. I lived in a really big city in Ibaraki, but it was still the countryside, and I never felt threatened.
In America i live in the suburbs where we never lock our doors, but everyone else does i hear - we live like 20 min from Buffalo, but we never feel threatened.
in japan my guy friends (american) always wanted to walk me home, but i never felt the need. i did live in a college town so it was common to see people my age out by themselves at all hours of the day. even when we went to kabukicho i wanted to explore everywhere but my male american friends were too nervous and kept pulling me back to the main streets. i felt that unless i was causing trouble/looking for a conflict that i would be left alone in kabukicho.
the only time i was ever harassed was when i went to ikebukuro, and then i was only harassed by western guys calling me over to them, cat-calling, hitting on me and crap like that. it was so embarrassing and it happened on like 5 different trips! because of this i avoided roppongi...

[blade_bltz]

I've made a bunch of trips into Roppongi and Kabukicho etc. Never felt threatened in any way.

Back home in Boston, it's slightly different. I never have felt personally threatened walking any street in Boston's tougher hoods at night, but honestly you aren't going to get shot unless you are somehow involved in gang activity, drugs, etc. Yes, mugging happens. I live in a safe area so I've never been mugged or anything, but yes - if I were to walk up and down the street in Roxbury every night trouble would find me. But honestly, people around me seem to think that stepping one foot into these rough areas will get you shot. Many of my friends are from these areas and have lived lives free of serious trouble.

It's the same idea in Japan, I think. You have to be caught up in crime to get pulled into the serious stuff. Also, a lot of people I've seen are pretty clueless when it comes to handling oneself in a "seedy" environment. Act like you know what you are doing and you will likely be left alone.

[nurizeko]

The only real difference between Japan and Britain is I avoid groups of teenagers/scumbags who still think their teenagers.

Yeah, I'm a 21 year old bloke and I feel intimidated by teenage youths who have nothnig to do with themselves and seem capable of some disturbing behaviours.

I feel much safer in my city's centre actually, its just my neighbourhood I'm definately careful.

[Maciamo]

Here in Brussels there are quite a lot of Japanese because the headquarters of Toyota, Honda and Subaru Europe are all in (or near) Brussels. An neighbourhood (Stockel) has quite a lot of Japanese residents working for Toyota. They tend to be so noisy and rude (or rather their children, which they do not educate properly) that many local shops have decided to refuse entry to Japanese people (only). You have to understand that Brussels is one of the most cosmopolitan city in the world (1/3 of foreigners + more naturalised immigrants from the 5 continents) and that this kind of ban only concerns Japanese expats. Why is it that the Japanese abroad manage to behave in a worse way that poor and misadapated Muslim or Black African immigrants ?

I think the reason is simple. While in Japan, the social pressure to behave well is so strong that once they leave Japan they think everything is allowed. Another reason is that Japanese people do not educate children to behave before 6 years old. They can run, shout and cause trouble to other people in public places (shops, restaurants...) and the parents won't say a word. I already noticed that in Japan. There are two categories of Japanese which are free to do everything they want : small children and old people. In Western countries usually elderly people are better behaved than the rest and teenagers cause the most trouble. In Japan it's the opposite. It's like they only started their adolescence in their 50's and it only got worse till they died.

[Pachipro]

I have always felt safe in Japan even when walking the streets alone late at night slightly inebriated on my way home from a get together with friends. I doubt I would ever feel comfortable doing that in any city here in the US. A person walking alone is a target anywhere here. Sad, but true.

In all my years living in, and visiting, Japan not once was I ever mugged. My only trouble to this day was when my fiancee and I ran into a couple of Chinpira (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14344)who started making remarks to her for being with a gaijin and this was in the middle of the afternoon! However, when in Japan, I still try to avoid these type of people.

[ArmandV]

So after all there is some truth is all the street violence we see in American movies and series. :auch:

Movies and series are an exaggeration of real life. I've never been robbed. However, I am licensed to pack heat (just in case).

[Kyoko_desu]

Do I feel safe in Japan? I think it depends on the area.

Where I live, I feel pretty safe. I don't lock the door when I go out or go to bed and in summer time we all sleep with all the windows open in my neighborhood.

And I have been delivering newspapers on a bicycle ever since I got kicked out of high school early in the morning like from 3AM to 4:30AM and that's still as dark as midnight. And I have never experienced a dangerous thing. No hentai ojisan, no robbery, no serial killer, LOL. Only things that scare me are spider webs and dog poops.

However, as I said above, it really depends on where you live. A guy from Nagoya City, the 3rd biggest city in Japan was really surprised when I told him that I don't lock the door of the house and even called me naive. And Nagoya is only 30 minutes drive from here.

[thistle]

Well, I live in Okinawa and I feel safe here, BUT, I would not say I feel safe
living in Tokyo. There are way too many weirdo's living there now.
In the first year I was living there I was attacked at a public toilets in Kabukicho, while at a 'hanami party', it was the early hours of the morning.

I have a list as long as my arm, of things which were stolen from me, and that
includes underwear being stolen fromt the coin laundry twice! I was also once
bothered by some pervert in convenience store, while using the copying machine. Looking back it amazes me still, that I didn't flee the country.
In 3 years of living in London, nothing ever happened to me. I suppose it was
just that I didn't stick out there:relief:

I guess in short, what I want to say, is No I feel no safer living in Japan than
my own country(with the exclusion of Okinawa and the outer islands),
sure statistically Scotland has a higher crime rate(mainly knife, gang related),
but nowadays I would not feel safe to walk home at night in Japan.
Too many random attacks, you never know when another nutter is going to
jump out with a cutter knife.

And Okinawa does have it's own crime, local crime(I'm not even going to touch the subject of US military crime). There is crime a plenty here, JHS students, high school students. I have had things stolen here, bicycles, a purse from a resort hotel, pretty common on the beaches as well.
It is not crime free! so please don't think it is.

[Dutch Baka]

...ever since I got kicked out of high school ...

Bit off topic, but how did you do that?

[pipokun]

...while at a 'hanami party', it was the early hours of the morning.
Hanami party at Kabukicho???

[thistle]

OK, it was a LONG time ago, and maybe it was not Kabukicho, but
it was in a temple grounds somewhere in Shinjuku-south..
Is Kabukicho where all the cinema's are, I don't remember?

[craftsman]

I have almost always felt safe in Japan but know from the people around me how typical crimes common the world over are just as prevalent here.


In my Tokyo days, my wife was pick pocketed on the way to work in Yokohama, her parents were burgled in the middle of the day and a good friend of mine was mugged at knife-point by an intruder in his own bedroom in Setagaya.


I think if you just believe the news stories about sensational crimes of passion etc, you might get the wrong impression that these kinds of crimes are not relatively common. In fact so common, that the news don't cover them.


The only time I felt unsafe in the city, however, was when bososoku motorbike riders used to scream past with baseball bats.


Where I live now its the creatures not the people you need to worry about.

The main danger are mamushi poisonous snakes
http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/resource/mamu.jpg
and the venomous mukade centipede
http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=tbn:_t79N_NGgNlzdM:http://www2.sanmedia.or.jp/herb/garden/gazou/mukade.jpg

[thistle]

It's going off the subject I know, but are those mukade centipedes you
had a pic. of really venemous, craftsman, as I had one outside my house this summer. I didn't know they were poisonous.

[DoctorP]

yes they are, and they are abundant in Okinawa also!

[Carlson]

Over all I feel more safe in Japan then any other place ive been.

[Revenant]

It seemed to me that some parts of American cities were absolute hell holes, and people advised me against going anywhere near the neighbrhood till the daytime traffic was steadily busy. Asked a taxi cab driver where the greyhound bus station was in New Orleans, and he told me it was just eight blocks away, but that I simply shouldn't go there so early in the morning. There were some there that would slot me for the tennies on my feet.

Hastings street in Canada is the roughest Canadian area I've been into, and while people said it was dangerous, I got the feeling that the guys there just weren't going to bother with me, since I didn't look like I'd go down too easily. Would however be a different story for a woman or smaller guy I believe.

The bar closing times were probably the closest I've come to actually being in physical danger. There was usually at least one guy simply looking for a fight, and most of the time I was able to avoid these guys. I did have a couple guys take swings at me before going after someone else. In Japan, apart from a confrontation with an angry short Brazilian (who I don't think is completely together mentally) at a bar just a month ago, I have never felt the need to look out for drunks looking for fights.

Even the Chinpira here don't seem sure what I'm capable of, and so do not bother me at all. Overall, I feel physically safer in Japan than Canada.

As to the gov't, it seems that a lot of people have difficulties with immigration, police, etc, but all in all, I seem to avoid all these troubles, even if I technically give them more reasons to mark me out as a possible shady foreigner.

[craftsman]

It's going off the subject I know, but are those mukade centipedes you
had a pic. of really venemous, craftsman, as I had one outside my house this summer. I didn't know they were poisonous.

They're killed on sight by islanders as, while for an adult their bite is a nasty sting, it can occasionally cause much more serious complications in children and old people. (er...death actually)

[ghettocities]

Why is the bottom of the poll only "not so safe" and not "I have a rear view mirror attached to my hat."
I could barely last five days during my last trip and that was with sunglasses on the whole time.



Josh

[gaijinalways]

I would definately say I feel generally more comfortable out and about, but I'm a mega-jumbo size here, so that helps. But I have had people elbow me almost off the platform, and my wife worries about breakins, so no open windows for us. We're not into clubs, so we don't often run into drunks except on the last train. Strangely enough, she loves Europe, even though she was pickpocketed in London, and mugged in Paris!

I have very few problems in the US. The only thing I remember coming close to trouble was some kid climbing on my car hood trying to get windshield washing money on my way to the highway (took a wrong turn on the way out of Manhattan). Let the kid 'ride' on my hood for a mile, he was whiter than a sheet when he dropped off at the next light, calling me crazy. I looked at it this way, I'm alone with my sister who couldn't fight her way out of a bag with help, and I don't know who else is around. I'm hardly going to get out of the car to pry the 'windshield washer' off in an area that isn't my hometurf.

Dangerous in Japan? Depends on what kind of danger we're talking about?