A Comparative Study of University
Students' Perceptions Towards
Crime in Japan and America
Kristin Szabo
Spring ２０１３
Advisors：
Dr. Yoshiko Saito-Abbott
Dr. Shigeko Sekine
Outline
1. Significance of the Study
2. Research Questions
3. Research Background
4. Research Method
5. Research Results
6. Findings
7. Conclusion
8. Discussion
9. Bibliography
10. Acknowledgments
1. Significance of the study
• Japan is said to have a low crime rate when compared to
the rest of the world -especially U.S
• During my study abroad in Japan I felt safer than I ever
had in the US and never witnessed a crime
• People only seemed to talk about petty crimes. I wanted
to know why people did not take more precaution with
things
2. Research Questions
1. What impact does the level of safety have on university
students from rural or urban settings?
2. How does crime affect university student’s perceptions of
their community?
3. What precautions do Japanese and American university
students take to avoid or prevent crime?
3. Research Outline
a. Countries at a Glance
b. Types of Crime Rates
c. Japanese “koban” and Police
d. Gun Control in Japan
e. Gun Control in America
f. Safety Precautions in Japan
g. Safety Education
a. Countries at a Glance
Information
Japan
America
Population:
1.285 million
3.13 million
Area:
145 sq. miles
380 sq. miles
Crime Rate:
15.2%
21.1%
Differences in
Race and
Ethnicity:
Japanese 99% ,
Other 1%
European 84%,
African 12%,
Asian 3%,
Native American 1%
(Country Watch, 2013)
(BBC: Country Profiles, 2013)
b. Types of Crime Rates
Types of
crime:
America
Japan
Homicide
4.7
.94
Rape
26.8
1.38
Burglary
113.7
3.53
Assault
241.1
24.26
Larceny
1,976.9
1,119.16
＊In a population of 100,000
(Stat.go.jp, 2010)
(FBI.gov, 2012)
c. Japanese “Koban” and Police
Koban:
A koban is a small police station, that houses
several police officers in various places around a
city. The police station exists to help protect and
to guide lost people.
(Wa-pedia, 2013)
• Unlike in American, where the patrol car is the
center of police activity, police activity in Japan
centers on the koban.
(keishicho.metro.tokyo.jp, 2013)
d. Gun Control in Japan
Swords and Firearms Control Law
(Adopted March 10th 1958; Amended 1978、1993
& 1995 )
It is illegal to own a sword or firearms in Japan.
However, if you have a license, you can have a
hunting rifle, sword or shotgun, but most people do
not have a license.
(Bayley, 1976)
“We don’t need guns”
(
e. Gun Control in America
Gun regulations are subject to State
laws.
According to the 2nd Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution (1791) "A wellregulated militia, being necessary to the
security of a free state, the right of the
people to keep and bear arms, shall not
be infringed." Guns cannot be
outlawed completely.
In recent years, because of frequent national news concerning shootings
and other related gun fatalities, stricter gun laws have been advocated for.
 76% of Americans support gun control.
(CNN/ORC, 2012)
f. Safety Measures in Japan
• Security Buzzer
In case of an emergency, it is a small
electronic device that is designed to
emit a high-pitched noise in order to
notify the police or anyone of danger.
-A buzzer phone app is also available
•
•
•
•
•
(Softbank, 2008)
Stun gun
Pepper Spray
Cell Phone
Martial Arts
Neighborhood Watch
(Japan Today, 2008)
g. Safety Education
•
In America and Japan, police and firemen officials, visit the school for safety
education
• Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) / Drug Abuse Prevention Center (DAPC
(DARE, 2013) (DAPC, 2013)
• “Safe Routes to School” program (SRTS)/Community Safety Maps
• Both countries utilize slogans to spread messages about safety
☆ “ika no osushi”, “Don’t talk to strangers”, “Absolutely no good. (dame. zettai.)”
(SRTS, 2013)
(岡山県警察, 2013)
4. Research Method
• Participants: 62
• Japanese University Students 32
• Males 14, Females 18
• Ages 19-25
• American University Students 30
• Males 15, Females 15
• Ages 20-30
• Survey Tools:
Googledocs, Facebook
• English Survey Japanese Survey
5. Research Results：Participants’
Ethnic Demographics
Research Result: 1
Research Question 1
What impact does the level of safety have on university students from
rural or urban settings?
Safety Awareness: Community
The Community
where I live：
Japan
Both Japanese and American students feel safe where they
live.
Safety Awareness: Police
Japan
America
Both countries think it is the police’s duty to protect people

Even with police, 53％ of Americans don’t feel safe

Because of police 57％ Japanese do feel safe
Role of Community
“Is your community active in protecting your neighborhood?”
America
日本
Japan
アメリカ
10%
はい
Yes
31%
37%
37%
いいえ
No
中性
Neither
53%
31%
31%
Even though both countries think that it is the duty of the
community to protect; both do not think they do
Crimes and Participants
“In the past five years, were you or someone you know
a victim of crime?”
Friends
Participants
Serious crime
America
アメリカ
Petty crime
Japan
日本
No
0%
50%
100% 0%
50%
100%
Most Americans know someone who was a victim of crime
Experiences of crime
“Which crime were you or someone you know a victim of?”
Robbery/theft
Identity theft
Fraud
Attempted murder
日本
Japan
Arson
America
アメリカ
Gang-related
Sexual crime
Other
0%
50%
100%
The most committed crime is theft in both countries
Summary of Results: 1
• Both Japanese and American students feel safe where they live
• Both Japanese and American students, agree it is the duty of
everyone to protect one another, but feel that is not the case
• Americans do not feel safe because of police presence
• The biggest type of crime in both countries is theft
Research Results: 2
Research Question 2
How does crime affect university student’s perceptions of their
community?
Perceptions of Community
“If you see someone who is foreign or different ethnically/racially,
do you feel unsafe?”
Yes, very much
Mostly
Maybe
日本
America
Japan
アメリカ
Not Really
Not at all
0%
50%
100%
87% of Americans and 60% of Japanese feel safe being around
someone who is a different ethnicity
Feelings of Safety: Times
Times
feel
safe:
America
Japan
Yes
No
Neutral Yes
No
Neutral
6:00 –
12:00
86%
7%
7%
91%
0%
9%
12:00 –
6:00
86%
3%
10%
84%
0%
16%
6:00 10:00
67%
10%
23%
35%
50%
16%
10:00 –
2:00
30%
33%
27%
6%
79%
16%
Awareness of Safety
America: 6am-10pm Americans feel safe
Reasons：Police presence, they have never experienced crime,
or they have a form of protection
Japan: 6am-6pm Japanese feel safe
Reasons：Police presence, they have never experienced crime,
or they have never heard of any crime in the area
Americans and Japanese:
Feeling Unsafe
Reasons：They could not protect themselves or Friends
and Family told them it was “unsafe”.
Summary of Results: 2
•
Nearly 60% of Japanese people and nearly 90% of the
American people feel safe around different races and
ethnicities
•
Americans feel safe longer in the day than Japanese
•
When family or friends say that “it is not safe”, then students
from both countries do not feel safe
Research Results: 3
Research Question 3
What precautions do Japanese and American university students
take to avoid or prevent crime?
Perceptions of Guns
“People should be able to have guns to protect themselves.”
Strongly Disagree
America
US
Japan
Japan
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
0%
50%
100%
• 3 times more Japanese are against being in possession of guns.
• 1/3 of American University students support guns.
Crime Prevention Measures
“If you carry some form of protection what is it?”
Pepper Spray
Knife
Gun
Pipe
Other
0%
US
America
Japan
Japan
50%
100%
In both America and Japan, pepper spray is a major form of
protection. Japan also listed stun guns and security buzzers.
Safety Education
“When did you learn about safety?”
Both countries learned in the period from elementary school to high school
Precaution Perceptions
“What do you think influences you to be safe?”
• Japan is influenced by the media
• America is influenced by “family” and “nothing”
Participants’
Safety
Measures
Survey Results
Japan
America
1. Cellphone
1. Cellphone
2. Well-lit
surroundings
2. Surroundings
3. Lock
windows/doors/bike
3. Lock doors/car
Summary of Results: 3
• Both countries lock cars/bikes, travel in well-lit surroundings,
and carry a cell phone for safety
• Media is a big influence on Japan’s perception of safety
• Americans said that “family” or “nothing” influenced them to
take precautions
Conclusion
• In general, college students in either country are living
safely
• However, even though Japan has less experience with
crime, their safety awareness is higher than Americans
• It might be said the crime rate in Japan is lower than
America because Japanese are taking more precautions
• Precautions that Japanese and Americans take and their
safety education is very similar
• There is no deep relationship with education and cultural
differences necessarily with the crime rate
Discussion & Future Study
• So as not to become a victim of crime, Japanese and American
students take matters of safety into their own hands
As this study was only intended for students of Okayama
University and CSUMB, in order to achieve greater accuracy in
results I would survey more Universities
For future research, I would more precisely compare the safety of
rural and urban areas, and want to try follow-up interviews as
well
8. Bibliography
APA
A SITUATION OF CRIME GENERATION AND SELF-ANTICRIME ACTIVITIES ON THE
NEIGHBORHOOD UNIT. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2013, from
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CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. (n.d.-a). Retrieved
May 2013, from http://www.cnn.com/
D.A.R.E. America. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2013, from http://www.dare.com/home/default.asp
DAPC - Program. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2013, from
Friman, H. R. (2001). Informal economies, immigrant entrepreneurship and drug crime in Japan. Journal
of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 27(2), 313–333. doi:10.1080/13691830020041633
Haley, J. O. (1982). Sheathing the Sword of Justice in Japan: An Essay on Law without Sanctions.
Journal of Japanese Studies, 8(2), 265–281.
8. Bibliography
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doi:10.1016/j.ijsl.2006.08.002
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FBI — Homepage. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2013, from http://www.fbi.gov/?
Japanese Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law: Translator’s Introduction, The - 9PacRimLPolyJ165.pdf. (n.d.). Retrieved
from
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Merriman. (1991). Economic Analysis of the Post World War II Decline in the Japanese Crime Rate. Journal of Quantitative
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Acknowledgments
Dr. Yoshiko Saito-Abbott
Dr. Shigeko Sekine
Gus Leonard
Japanese exchange students
WLC400 Students
My Family
Special thanks to:
Takashi Yokoi, Masaki Iwai and Urara Enomoto