Any US/Japan comparison that focuses solely on their legal system (or any other single aspect) while ignoring all of the other massive differences is completely

Any US/Japan comparison that focuses solely on their legal system (or any other single aspect) while ignoring all of the other massive differences is completely disconnected from reality. Relative to the US, Japan is ethnically and culturally much more homogeneous. The culture has an intense focus on communalism, respect and duty as well as a host of other differences. For example, cleanliness is much more highly valued. Communal values are often said to have been shaped by the much more frequent natural disasters suffered by Japan. Healthcare is much more affordable and accessible. They have rather different taboos and attitudes around sex. And so on. Since you apparently believe that a draconian justice system is the primary (sole?) secret to a peaceful society, you might also want to broaden your research to consider countries whose cultures are much closer to America's, have justice systems are much more lenient than America's, and still manage to have lower crime rates. Because there are a lot of them. I have not spent time in Japan, so feel free to discount this. But I suspect the causal relationship is much more likely to be: communalism --> (low crime + harsh penalties for violating societal norms) Than it is to be: harsh penalties --> low crime