craftsman
Dec 21, 2006, 16:40
A new book by Hiroshi Kubo, the former head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Emergency Public Safety Task Force, claims that crimes by foreigners and young people are exaggerated out of all proportion for political purposes.
The problem with the crime figures is that,
the growing crime rate in Tokyo is based on reported crimes, not actual crime cases. This means the count includes cases where people who have been scared into believing their safety is under such a threat they contact the police for any trifling matter only to be sent away with no action taken.
I do actually recall a cleaner in Osaka who believed I had come to kill her (purely because I was foreign) despite the fact I was a company guest, returning to my room and she was still cleaning in my room. Now that would have been a statistic.
As far as crimes by foreigners is concerned:
In 2002, there were 102 non-Japanese arrested in Tokyo for violent crimes including murder, armed robbery, arson and rape. The following year, that number jumped to 156, fell back to 117 in 2004 and was just 84 in 2005.
So it has been falling in recent years. And, comparatively, the number of violent crimes Japanese are committing in Tokyo number about 1,000 cases a year.
He also says that youth crime when looking back over the past 40 years has actually declined, not increased as some suggest.
He says
authorities are merely fear mongering, taking statistics that work in their favor and molding them to suit their purposes.
Here's the article (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20061221p2g00m0dm003000c.html).
The problem with the crime figures is that,
the growing crime rate in Tokyo is based on reported crimes, not actual crime cases. This means the count includes cases where people who have been scared into believing their safety is under such a threat they contact the police for any trifling matter only to be sent away with no action taken.
I do actually recall a cleaner in Osaka who believed I had come to kill her (purely because I was foreign) despite the fact I was a company guest, returning to my room and she was still cleaning in my room. Now that would have been a statistic.
As far as crimes by foreigners is concerned:
In 2002, there were 102 non-Japanese arrested in Tokyo for violent crimes including murder, armed robbery, arson and rape. The following year, that number jumped to 156, fell back to 117 in 2004 and was just 84 in 2005.
So it has been falling in recent years. And, comparatively, the number of violent crimes Japanese are committing in Tokyo number about 1,000 cases a year.
He also says that youth crime when looking back over the past 40 years has actually declined, not increased as some suggest.
He says
authorities are merely fear mongering, taking statistics that work in their favor and molding them to suit their purposes.
Here's the article (http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20061221p2g00m0dm003000c.html).