Crime down overall, but violence keeps on rising

Japan’s crime rate will drop for the first time in eight years based on figures for the first 11 months of 2003, according to the National Police Agency.

Arrest rates rose by 2.2 percentage points to 23.4 percent, the second year in succession that crime fighters have lifted a notch.

But while overall crime is down by 2.3 percent compared to the same period last year, violent crimes skyrocketed by a staggering 8.2 percent.

With one person murdered every six hours in Japan, the idea the country is a safe one is mere myth.

Police have promised to remain vigilant despite the decline in overall crime and increased success in arresting offenders.

“We’ve finally managed to bring about a decline in the crime rate, but we still need to place priority on restoring public safety,” an NPA spokesman said.

NPA figures show that from January to the end of November, Japan accounted for 248,761 reported offenses of the Penal Code. Of these, 12,343 were deemed to be violent crimes, including 1,332 murders, 6,922 armed robberies, 1,822 arsons and 2,267 rapes, all of which showed an increase over 2002.

Rising at an alarming rate was the number of frauds, with 53,176 committed, a large chunk of which were carried out over the Internet.

Serious crimes by foreigners also increased again, rising 7.6 percent to 21,708, a majority of which were committed by Chinese nationals. (Compiled from Mainichi and wire reports, Dec. 19, 2003)