ABSTRACT
In the 1980s, Japan was viewed as the only economically developed country in the world that had succeeded in controlling crime. In 1985, for example, the number of penal code offenses known to the police (excluding traffic-related offenses) was 1,607,663, which translates to a rate of 1,328 crimes per 100,000 population. This was dramatically lower than the crime rates of 5,000-7,000 per 100,000 population reported in the United States and Europe during the same period. With a clearance rate of 72.9 percent for penal code offenses as a whole, and 64.2 percent even when traffic-related offenses were excluded, the Japanese police force for the most part enjoyed the full confidence of the general public. Against this background, the annual “White Paper on Crime” published by the Ministry of Justice that year proudly stated:
Crime in Japan in recent years has generally remained rather low, as a result of the application of criminal justice policies well-suited to the distinctive characteristics of the Japanese environment. This achievement is attracting the attention of countries all over the world.
