[doall]

>So nobody bothers to even report such crimes

As a person who knows Japan quite well, this is not true. Even a very light case like seeing a stranger near a house, Japanese people will often call the police or go to a koban and request for help. In such case, a police officer will come to your house, listen to your claim, fill in papers, and will do some patrolling everyday for several days.

It is not that nobody bothers to report crimes. Japanese people bothers to report crimes, but it is up to the police department that if they should accept the damage report and do some further investigation. Of course there are priorities and because of the lack of resources some crimes won't be taken seriously when it should have.

[derefr]

Oh, sure, people are very willing to report their suspicion of a crime happening to someone else.

But what do you think is, say, the date-rape report rate for Japan vs. any other country? Something that's already a source of personal shame is hard enough to report; knowing that no investigation will even be attempted in response means there's no reason to try to overcome that shame.

(Also, Japan is very willing to respond to any random report by "increasing patrols" by the low-level police-box staffers who are basically there to make it look like Something Is Being Done. Look at what reports ever get any detectives assigned to them, and the statistics will tell a far different story.)

[doall]

> Oh, sure, people are very willing to report their suspicion of a crime happening to someone else.

I can say the same thing when you see a stranger entering your property that such case alone can be a crime in the Japanese law. I have seen Japanese people reporting such crimes.

> But what do you think is, say, the date-rape report rate for Japan vs. any other country? Something that's already a source of personal shame is hard enough to report; knowing that no investigation will even be attempted in response means there's no reason to try to overcome that shame.

Even in such specific type of crimes that is very difficult to investigate, some people report to the police. It is up to the police department to accept the reports and further investigate.

> Look at what reports ever get any detectives assigned to them, and the statistics will tell a far different story.

Your claim was that nobody bothers to report, but I oppose to the claim because I have seen people reporting, and thus I still conclude your claim is false.

[kbenson]

> Your claim was that nobody bothers to report, but I oppose to the claim because I have seen people reporting

The claim was that people don't report crime, and you claim to see people reporting suspicions. Even if it weren't just an anecdote, it isn't even addressing the point accurately.

> thus I still conclude your claim is false.

Neither of you have actually provided anything beyond generalizations and anecdotes. Any conclusion based on what's been presented so far is incredibly premature.

[doall]

>The claim was that people don't report crime, and you claim to see people reporting suspicions. > Even if it weren't just an anecdote, it isn't even addressing the point accurately.

I have addressed the suspicion thing in my second reply to derefr. It is not just suspicion, but also a crime that is reported.

> Neither of you have actually provided anything beyond generalizations and anecdotes. Any conclusion based on what's been presented so far is incredibly premature.

I understand your point. Since I know quite well of Japanese people, I don't think it is premature. To clearly show evidences that everyone can understand is a different thing and it is also difficult in some context.

To deny the claim "So nobody bothers to even report such crimes", I have to find just one case and since I know a case I consider it false.

To prove all my claims that I have witnessed, we probably have to go to court and I consider it nonsense since it isn't realistic.

To prove a customary of Japanese people, it is very difficult and I currently have no clear evidence that I can show easily, but any Japanese people can oppose to my claims if it seem wrong.

To back up my claim using other sources, for example, I can tell you a famous date-drug rape case of Shiori Ito in Japan, which the victim reported to the police, accepted, investigated, but not prosecuted.

Here is the wiki written about her in Japanese. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/伊藤詩織

[emodendroket]

Haven't watched it but there's a lot of buzz around the Ito Shiori BBC documentary, entitled Japan's Secret Shame: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b8cfcj

[bachbach]

UK and US media have an obsession with the flaws of Japan, and also like to overlook the monumental difference in crime rates by chalking it up to fabrication.

[ramblerman]

> Oh, sure, people are very willing to report their suspicion of a crime happening to someone else.

Are you talking from experience, or further extrapolating from the Wikipedia article you read?

[flashmob]

Yep, it's a totally different culture. For example, there's a lot of motivation to protect the family's honor. The police will mediate between the parties before going further, and often reach justice outside the court, where both sides are satisfied with the result. Often a sincere apology goes a long way in Japan.

[emodendroket]

These kind of "nuisance" crimes are well controlled, but Japan has one of the world's most active and connected underworlds, with organized crime being deeply entangled with both business and government. It's getting a little old, but Dubro's Yakuza book is full of jaw-dropping stories.