I disagree. They're the product of the same pressure. Crimes need to be solved and unsolved crimes or acquittals are to be avoided at all costs. If that is you

I disagree. They're the product of the same pressure. Crimes need to be solved and unsolved crimes or acquittals are to be avoided at all costs. If that is your reality: They can be solved by aggressive prosecution of those under suspicion - torturing confessions out of people if they are unwilling to confess (maybe because they're innocent). They can also be solved by selective prosecution - don't look too hard at cases that seem like they'll be difficult, call them a suicide or natural death and close the book. No crime, no problem to make you look bad if you can't solve it. ------ I am not alleging that Japan is actually a place with high crime rates. Just that the deep flaws in their system provide a strong incentive to distort their crime rates. Especially for homicide, being both high profile and being a crime where the victim can't complain about how their case is handled. You're citing their homicide rates as an example of "strict punishment does appear to have an impact on crime", and I'm suggesting Japan's homicide statistics aren't a great example. -------- On a related note (and one I've read far less on), it seems the vast majority of criminal offenders basically get a suspended sentence, at least for their first offense. So, I'm not sure that you can really say that Japan's criminal justice system is an example of "strict punishment" either.