Murder rate rises in Japan but total number of crimes falls

Friday 16th January, 05:34 AM JST

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buggerlugs at 08:45 AM JST - 16th January

I bet they will claim it's all due to the Nazi fingerprinting scheme and the fact there are fewer forigners here. love the sentence "due to strict gun control laws".... my pretty pink bottom. it maybe because after all the gaffes the keystone cops have had last year they are rigging the figures to try to make it look like they are clever and worth their salary.
medievaltimes at 10:31 AM JST - 16th January

The Japanese police are a joke. Unreported rape, groping and sexual harrassment are probably high. BUT, I find Japan to be the safest place I have ever been to.
Statistician at 10:38 AM JST - 16th January

No time to check the detail this morning but it looks to me like there is something very wrong with this data, perhaps someone has misinterpreted the press release.

I think the 1,300 refers to all homicides, not just murders. In most juristictions 'homicide' includes not only capital murders but also all forms of manslaughter (e.g. causing death by dangerous driving), which of course account for the majority of incidents.
shouganaika at 11:28 AM JST - 16th January

with burglaries making up the largest proportion, accounting for 76% of total crimes

and those are all committed by Chinese and Koreans apparently
Statistician at 12:14 PM JST - 16th January

Yes this data is incorrect. The 1,300 value refers to unlawful homicides, not murders.

Looking on the internet it seems several journalists have made this mistake with the 2008 data
jackseoul at 12:32 PM JST - 16th January

The number of murder cases jumped more than 8% in Japan last year, despite an overall drop in the crime rate in the country, which has long boasted of low crime, the National Police Agency said Thursday.

I suppose the murder victims are actually the ones creating the crime. Kill the criminals and in turn drop the crime rate.

Shouganaika,

with burglaries making up the largest proportion, accounting for 76% of total crimes

-and those are all committed by Chinese and Koreans apparently

Then who are the ones doing the actual murders? It can't be the Japanese because they don't commit crime or murder people! The conspiracy??!!! Maybe the Philipinos? What a joke.
dennis0bauer at 03:09 PM JST - 16th January

low crime or low crime reporting?
Nessie at 03:13 PM JST - 16th January

Good one, Stats.
Nessie at 03:23 PM JST - 16th January

I think the 1,300 refers to all homicides, not just murders. In most juristictions 'homicide' includes not only capital murders but also all forms of manslaughter (e.g. causing death by dangerous driving), which of course account for the majority of incidents.

It's my understanding that traffic fatalities have been declining. If so, then the translation of "murder" for the word "homicide" would UNDERstate the increase in murders.
unklesam at 03:23 PM JST - 16th January

The comedy continues.

"overall drop in the crime rate in the country"

Wrong ! The rate of crime has not declined, reporting it has !

"which has long boasted of low crime"

"Boasted"... yes ! Not the reality though, as Ambrosia points out...

"Japan's got one of the lowest rates of autopsy, forensic and medical, in the industrialized world." Spot on ! as many as 20,000 unnatural deaths go unchecked every year.

"The agency said that 1.8 million crimes took place last year"

About 2 million "reported" crimes ? Add 100 suicides a day, thousands of auto accidents a day, and more than 100 earthquakes a day... Japan is "far" from being safe. Per square inch I am willing to bet it ranks in the top 10 most dangerous countries !

"Gun deaths are rare in Japan due to the nation’s strict gun control. The agency did not have annual data,"

Ummm... if the incidence are so rare, why no data ? Something stinks here.

"Most cases of gun violence are gang-related."

Umm (again), isnt that true with all gun violence around the world ?

Sorry to burst any bubbles out there... but Japan is one of the most risky nations to live in on the planet !
BBLeo at 06:10 PM JST - 16th January

I don't believe to the statistics as mentioned. Crimes a daily listed in JT, and they aren't any lower figures. Did they take into the account all reported crimes? It would be good idea to publish police arrests, including the ones that they let them go like young girl that killed her father published today. Are court cases included with these statistics? How many cases are still on the lane to be prosecuted say at least waiting for few years? Wake up Japan give us some real facts and figures.
Statistician at 10:27 PM JST - 16th January

Amazing how hard it can be to communicate simple facts.

Let me state it as simply as I can. There were 1300 homicides last year. Some journalist who doesn't know what 'homicide' means has written 1300 'murders'

Homicide is unlawful killing. Last year there were about 400 murders in Japan and 900 other unlawful killings - mainly manslaughter cases.

Hope this clarifies it
spudman at 01:40 AM JST - 17th January

thznks Stats. Unklesam your opinions run counter to fact. per square inch wow thats really stretching to make a point. Hope you are nice and safe in your corner of the globe, me I feel safer here than I have in any other country I have lived in.
unklesam at 05:51 PM JST - 19th January

"me I feel safer here than I have in any other country I have lived in."

Ignorance is bliss.
unklesam at 07:24 PM JST - 20th January

"Unklesam your opinions run counter to fact. per square inch wow thats really stretching to make a point."

Really ? So why are there so many "neighborhood watch" programs throughout Japan ? Seems to me if I come home at night and the wife says theirs a murderer loose in the neighbourhood, I better lock the door and keep my guard up... but not spudman, he figures the population density will save his arse. Brilliant Spuds, simply brilliant !