[spike021]

It's interesting to read about this seeming to improve in Japan.

I'm friends with many people in the (tuner) car community there and car theft as well as parts theft is still happening too often for locals.

It's gotten to the point (well, it's been this way already for a while) where locals do not want photos of their cars posted on the internet unless their license plates are censored. This is because the license plates describe roughly the area they live in. So someone could spend time poking around Street View on Google Maps and potentially find where a local lives and either steal their car or attempt to remove expensive parts (aftermarket wheels, for instance) for selling.

[freetime2]

Car theft spiked drastically in 2022/2023, but is still very low by historical standards (5,000 thefts reported in 2022 vs. 65,000 in 2003 [1]). It’s been in the news a lot lately, which has probably heightened peoples’ perceived risk a bit more than warranted. That being said, I think it’s sensible to avoid publishing photos of valuables on the internet where would-be thieves could take notice.

I think the shortages/increased prices of cars in the wake of the pandemic has contributed to the recent spike in thefts. Anecdotally, I looked into buying a Toyota recently, and the wait time for many of their popular models can be a year or more, or in many cases they aren’t even accepting orders. This sort of scarcity could make theft more lucrative.

[1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/08/28/japan/crime-leg...

[graphe]

My guess is that the low property crime is due to nothing worth taking in the home, and Japanese property crimes don't happen face to face. If nice cars and their parts still being stolen it looks very plausible it's not higher mortality.