A cultural study of the low crime rate in Japan

This article attempts to explain the differences between Japanese and Western legal cultures in order to provide a clue to the significant gap between the crime rates in Japan and the West. In Japan, the locality-based group formation causes both a sense of security and an infinite number of repressive rules; these two elements are bound together to produce high self-control which acts as a strong force restraining people from committing crime. This is in contrast to the Western world's emphasis on the personal attribute-based group formation, the limited and permissive nature of rules, and the relative freedom of action - all of which contribute to weakening the crime prevention mechanism and stressing the role of punishment rather than prevention.