It is certainly the case that "being charged" does not mean exactly the same thing in every country; the weight isn't the same everywhere, and the details diffe

It is certainly the case that "being charged" does not mean exactly the same thing in every country; the weight isn't the same everywhere, and the details differ too. So I suppose it's also conceivable that the japanese police can collect enough evidence without formal charges that the innocent go free there. And of course - nobody is entirely innocent. Knowing that once charged you're almost certainly going to be convicted, perhaps suspects cooperate more in hope for leniency. I mean, I doubt law enforcement are angels in japan, but I can imagine fairly benign factors contributing too. Frankly - give how pervasive such high numbers are across much of the world, I'd say the argument for the efficacy of a confrontational legal system is undermined; clearly it's not working ideally.