Crime Scene TapeHave you ever wondered why Japan claims to have a high crime rate with foreigners, but you never see them on TV or in the papers? I have.

There has been very little noise about the fast-rising crime rate among the nationals in this country, despite the significant increases in both the number of murders and arsons. Yet the amount of broadcast time spent on the government’s proposed changes to the legal system as a means to combat the growing concern with 2.1-million criminals — I mean, foreign nationals — is staggering.

According to reports compiled in 2006 by the federal government, the Japanese national crime rate was 0.34% while the foreign rate was a whopping 0.19%. The crimes committed by foreigners were typically repeat offenders and make up 0.11% of the foreign residents in this country.

Surely you can see the problem, here.

Considering how many of us live in fear of sneezing during a “routine search” at the larger train stations for fear of deportation, I’m surprised to see people get upset enough to outright break the law and risk a complete barring of re-entry. With the fingerprint systems in place at immigration points all over the country, they could actually pull it off, too.

But if so many of us gaijin are criminals, why not parade the problem on national TV? This worked pretty well on radio shows during the 1920’s and allowed the local citizens to “clean up their cities.” Heck, national pride was never higher!

Oh, Right … The Race Issue

Japan is not a very accepting nation for those who don’t conform 100%. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of great people here that will accept someone regardless of where their genetic lineage originated. But the people in positions of power tend to be less forgiving and, although it’s technically frowned upon to show a racial bias in Japan, there’s no law against it.

That said, parading a high foreign crime rate might look bad to the international community. Hence the hushed lips.

Two-Tier Definition of Crime

To understand crime in Japan, we need to examine it the same way as the bureaucrats: separately.

Here are some of the numbers the Japanese government has made available through their federal statistics spreadsheets:

Crimes Committed in 2006 by Japanese Nationals (Population: 127,700,000)

  • Murders: 1,309
  • Assaults: 76,303
  • Rapes: 1,948
  • Other: 2,050,850

Crimes Committed in 2006 by Foreign Nationals (Residents: 2,100,000)

  • Murders: 61
  • Assaults: 47
  • Rapes: 34
  • Other: 40,615

That’s quite a bit of “Other” on the side of foreign nationals, so let’s see a breakdown of those numbers.

  • Traffic Offenses: 22,390
  • Overstay Visa: 9,211
  • Arson: 71
  • Various Thefts: 8,943

Yep, that’s right. Overstaying a visa or getting a speeding ticket is viewed no different than robbing a bank, killing a few people in the process and stealing a car to escape. It seems the Japanese statisticians don’t differentiate between a crime and an offense. This is the true reason behind the foreign crime “problem” in this country.

I agree that overstaying a visa is illegal and should be punished accordingly, but to lump it together with murder and theft does little to promote Japan’s image with those who might want to go through the excruciatingly painful process of legally living and working in this country for any length of time. With all the concerns regarding the beleaguered pension system, one would expect the marketing wing of the government to be finding ways to promote working and living in Japan.

Guess not.

No Apologies

Quite a few people have been offended by previous comments made on this site regarding my stance on some of the recent changes to Japanese immigration procedures all non-Japanese-born people are expected to follow, and I still stand by those statements. So long as I’m not counted the same way as a log, then I’ll refrain from making a political scene on the steps of some government building.

That said, by giving us foreigners the “guilty until proven innocent” treatment in criminal statistics, the government is counteracting any program or project undertaken by their Yokoso Japan! PR machine and, as a result, wasting millions of Yen that could otherwise be wasted elsewhere.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

In light of this interesting interpretation of statistics, I’ve decided to compile my own list regarding criminal cases in an oft-forgotten area of the country: the Japanese political system. Here’s what I found for the same 2006 period used for the above data:

  • Policy-Making Politicians: 45
  • Scandals: ODA, Livedoor, Nishimura, Sata … and a few others with people appointed to their non-political jobs by the government.

Hmm … 8.9%. This sampling required only 10 minutes on Google, and I’m sure that there are a few others we’re forgetting. Why is it so hard for some people to follow the very laws they’re elected to create and enforce? Maybe we should start fingerprinting these guys, too. It might just speed up their processing at the local precinct.

Oh, that’s right … they don’t do time for their crimes. Resigning and an apology at a press conference is all they need to avoid a criminal record.

It’s a shame foreigners can’t do the same.

I think the stats speak for themselves. Crime is a problem in all countries, I agree. But to single out a group of people and over-hype a “crime problem” with biased and otherwise opaque figures is not only stupid, but an insult to the intelligence of everyone who listens.

Media outlets should assign blame when blame is due, but they should never paint such broad strokes over an entire group of people just because the government released an Excel file that doesn’t differentiate between a crime and an offense. It also doesn’t take a genius to look at these numbers and see that the enemy does not come from outside the country.

Speaking of which; NHK, you might just want to look into those criminal figures I posted on our ever-vigilant government. I think you might find an under-reported crime problem there.