Crime Statistics a Comparison

¶ … countries house different cultures. Japan has the opposite culture of the United States. Researchers frequently use Japan and the United States to compare crime statistics and discuss how these statistics relate to cultural differences Japan, similarly to England, has a notable powerless figurehead, the emperor, and a prime minister. The prime minister acts like an American president would. However many differences exist between the two countries in relation to criminal justice. One example is the police force. Japan has a unitary approach towards government. "One example of the highly regulated unitary approach in Japan is the use of two national police forces to handle the civil order and deviance order police functions" (Dammer & Albanese, 2013, p. 89). America has a progressive approach.

Within the origins of American law, exist European law and its mixture of Roman law and Church, which came to dominate Continental Europe for several centuries. This coupled with a strong Christian religious duty embedded into the very fabric of American politics made some things different from Japanese government. Citizens feel more responsible for their actions in Japan versus the United States. If one looks at Table 11.1 International Crime and Justice on page 88, one can see the rates of incarceration are much fewer in Japan compared to the United States even though the population size is not much smaller in Japan compared to the United States. The 2009 rates in Japan are 63 versus the United States, which has 723. This could be due to the police being monitored more closely in Japan versus the United States. As the police force in the United States been known to arrest more than they would in Japan. It also could be because Japanese citizens feel more inclined to obey the law versus American citizens.

Another interesting point to make concerning crime statistics are the drug trafficking routes for drugs within the two countries. Cocaine and cannabis appear to be the main drug trafficked through North America versus synthetic drugs that are typically demanded in Japan and Australia (Natarajan, 2011, p. 113). This could be because recreational drugs like cannabis are illegal in Japan versus the United States where Cannabis has some legalization.

A major difference as well in crime statistics is the amount of citizens that have guns. America is a country known for its gun laws. Some states are very lenient like Virginia and some are not like New York. Japan however, has no tolerance for gun use and many Japanese citizens that use weapons in Japan use swords or knives in order to attack someone. This came from World War II aftermath and several other events.