Another Round of "Japan is a lot different than the States"!

japan has virtually no crime. if you ask people about it, there are three examples you might hear: mob violence (though rarer now), drunk people in certain areas starting fights with the wrong people - usually the drunk foreigners, and domestic violence. but there is virtually no theft or violent crime (not saying domestic violence isn't violent, but you get it). much of this comes from culture and the economy - i think that violent crime in the states stems from many factors, but the two that lead and that are very tied together is the class struggle/underclass and child-rearing. i don't think that everyone out there is a bad parent, but i think good parenting goes a long way. some parents aren't bad by choice, but that the environment in which children grow up isn't always conducive to good growth (factors in and out of the home, often related to economics). in japan, there isn't the class differentials as in the states, there isn't really an underclass (at least that i've seen or heard of), and family culture and respect goes a long way. there are so many little customs and rituals that everyone follows (cindy told me that it's very difficult for a gaijin to learn all the customs, and that japanese just expect that gaijin won't know them - i'm sure when i'm in restaurants, i am doing something wrong, and, tattoos are offensive here - so that as a gaijin, there are two choices - go for broke and try to learn everything, or, just accept that you're a gaijin, be respectful, and hope that no one else looks down at you - cindy suggested some elitism towards foreigners stemming from their lack of knowledge of public etiquette and custom).



as an example i noticed early on, japanese don't jaywalk. ever. there can be no cars in sight to the horizon, and japanese won't cross on a "don't walk." the first few times i crossed the street, i went when there was room, as i and others are apt to do in nyc. then i realized i was the only one doing so, and sure that all the japanese on the street corner were saying to themselves "there goes a gaijin." i don't jaywalk here now.