4 ms·

Simply put: because it's full of Japanese people. Everybody speaks the same language and has the same cultural norms, which are the foundations for any high-tr

by donw 2y ago

Simply put: because it's full of Japanese people. Everybody speaks the same language and has the same cultural norms, which are the foundations for any high-trust society. Japanese culture has an exceedingly high focus on the appearance of cleanliness and politeness. The inside of someone's home might be a hoarder's dream, but the outside will be clean. Someone might be an absolute jerk, but to act on that in most social spaces would have very real consequences. Rude behavior, like dancing and playing loud music on a train, will get you arrested here. Misbehavior in Japan is dealt with, and quickly. On that note: Japanese police don't play games. You do not have a right to a speedy trial, there is no jury of your peers, and they can hold you as long as they'd like. The phrase "police brutality" does not translate into Japanese. Do not break the law in Japan. There is a de-facto truce between the Yakuza and the police, as the Yakuza deal with foreign gangs and other problems that would be... difficult to solve with normal police work. Japanese gangs are fiercely nationalistic. If the police don't handle you, the Yakuza will, and although I don't have any data to back this up, I'd wager that the police are the better option. Additionally, Japanese neighborhoods have social responsibilities. Every couple of months, I am responsible for cleaning our trash area for two weeks, and there's usually some kind of repair or cleanup event twice per year. In Japan, many people have lived in the same place for multiple generations, and can trace their ancestry within Japan back for thousands of years. Japan is, quite literally, their ancestral home, and they act like it.

lolinder 2y ago
> Everybody speaks the same language and has the same cultural norms, which are the foundations for any high-trust society. This is rarely talked about but is so important, and any comparisons between countries that fail to take this into account are severely missing the mark. The US is 59% white but even that racial category is largely a human construct that doesn't reflect the truly bewildering variety of national origins that lumps together. Norway, meanwhile, is 75% ethnically Norwegian. Finland is 88% Finnish. Japan is 98% ethically Japanese. Many things—from healthcare to crime prevention to sanitation to education to democracy—become substantially easier the smaller the range of genetic profiles and cultural backgrounds you have to account for.
- astrange 2y ago
  The Japanese government, like France, doesn't keep track of ethnicity. That number means citizens and everyone just reports it as if it's ethnicity. You wouldn't be able to tell if some of them are half Korean or Chinese. Tokyo in particular has a lot of immigrants these days, and I think you'd only notice if you read their nametags at the convenience store.
  - ekianjo 2y ago
    You don't get a Japanese passport easily in Japan so in fact yes it's easy to track the ethnic groups in Japan
  - donw 2y ago
    Last year, less than 9,000 foreigners naturalized into a population of 123 million. In order to naturalize, you must present a compelling case to do so: you must speak, read, and write Japanese to the level required by compulsory education, must demonstrate that you can and will supporting yourself financially, must have no criminal record in Japan or elsewhere, and nominally must be married to a Japanese citizen. Japan does not allow dual citizenship. If you naturalize, you are required to show proof that you have surrendered any non-Japanese citizenship.
    - astrange 2y ago
      I said "half" for a reason, I wasn't talking about naturalized citizens but rather their descendants or people with part foreign ancestry. Zainichi Koreans are the main example I think. It's not a lot more, but it's more than 2%.
      - lolinder 2y ago
        If it doesn't drop below 88% then it's still higher than Finland and doesn't change my point at all.
      - donw 2y ago
        I’m confused. If you are born and raised in Japan to at least one Japanese parent, you are Japanese.
rufus_foreman 2y ago
>> Rude behavior, like dancing I think Americans are a little more footloose in that respect.
yongjik 2y ago
> On that note: Japanese police don't play games. You do not have a right to a speedy trial, there is no jury of your peers, and they can hold you as long as they'd like. The phrase "police brutality" does not translate into Japanese. In 2024, US police shot and killed 1,173 people [1]. That's 0.35 deaths per 100,000 Americans. In 2022, Japan had 289 homicides, or 0.23 per 100,000 people [2]. I.e., an American is more likely to be shot by police than a Japanese person is likely to be killed by a murderer. I don't speak Japanese, but if "police brutality" does not translate into Japanese, then maybe that's because such a thing is unthinkable in Japan. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-de... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention...
- cthalupa 2y ago
  Do you think that physical violence is the only sort of thing that police can unjustly inflict upon you? I love Japan, have spent a significant quantity of time there, and if I was a billionaire, it'd be the place where I bought the penthouse luxury apartment. So if anything, I am very favorably biased towards the country. But it also has a 99% conviction rate, and not because their police are so stellar that they always get the perpetrator on the first try. They hold you for extended periods of time and the system is set up to extract confessions. We know that people are weak to being coerced into false confessions even in countries where there is significantly less pressure and attempts to get them out of you. Also plenty of laws that have penalties that would be considered quite harsh compared to much of the western world - simple possession of pot can get you 5 years in prison, and intent to distribute/profit can get you 10 - and personal stash levels are plenty to bump you into that range.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - nottorp 2y ago
    There's also the other interpretation that prosecutors don't ... prosecute ... unless they're 99% sure they'll win.

by donw 2y ago

lolinder 2y ago

> Everybody speaks the same language and has the same cultural norms, which are the foundations for any high-trust society. This is rarely talked about but is so important, and any comparisons between countries that fail to take this into account are severely missing the mark. The US is 59% white but even that racial category is largely a human construct that doesn't reflect the truly bewildering variety of national origins that lumps together. Norway, meanwhile, is 75% ethnically Norwegian. Finland is 88% Finnish. Japan is 98% ethically Japanese. Many things—from healthcare to crime prevention to sanitation to education to democracy—become substantially easier the smaller the range of genetic profiles and cultural backgrounds you have to account for.

astrange 2y ago
The Japanese government, like France, doesn't keep track of ethnicity. That number means citizens and everyone just reports it as if it's ethnicity. You wouldn't be able to tell if some of them are half Korean or Chinese. Tokyo in particular has a lot of immigrants these days, and I think you'd only notice if you read their nametags at the convenience store.
- ekianjo 2y ago
  You don't get a Japanese passport easily in Japan so in fact yes it's easy to track the ethnic groups in Japan
- donw 2y ago
  Last year, less than 9,000 foreigners naturalized into a population of 123 million. In order to naturalize, you must present a compelling case to do so: you must speak, read, and write Japanese to the level required by compulsory education, must demonstrate that you can and will supporting yourself financially, must have no criminal record in Japan or elsewhere, and nominally must be married to a Japanese citizen. Japan does not allow dual citizenship. If you naturalize, you are required to show proof that you have surrendered any non-Japanese citizenship.
  - astrange 2y ago
    I said "half" for a reason, I wasn't talking about naturalized citizens but rather their descendants or people with part foreign ancestry. Zainichi Koreans are the main example I think. It's not a lot more, but it's more than 2%.
    - lolinder 2y ago
      If it doesn't drop below 88% then it's still higher than Finland and doesn't change my point at all.
    - donw 2y ago
      I’m confused. If you are born and raised in Japan to at least one Japanese parent, you are Japanese.

rufus_foreman 2y ago

>> Rude behavior, like dancing I think Americans are a little more footloose in that respect.

yongjik 2y ago

> On that note: Japanese police don't play games. You do not have a right to a speedy trial, there is no jury of your peers, and they can hold you as long as they'd like. The phrase "police brutality" does not translate into Japanese. In 2024, US police shot and killed 1,173 people [1]. That's 0.35 deaths per 100,000 Americans. In 2022, Japan had 289 homicides, or 0.23 per 100,000 people [2]. I.e., an American is more likely to be shot by police than a Japanese person is likely to be killed by a murderer. I don't speak Japanese, but if "police brutality" does not translate into Japanese, then maybe that's because such a thing is unthinkable in Japan. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-de... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention...

cthalupa 2y ago
Do you think that physical violence is the only sort of thing that police can unjustly inflict upon you? I love Japan, have spent a significant quantity of time there, and if I was a billionaire, it'd be the place where I bought the penthouse luxury apartment. So if anything, I am very favorably biased towards the country. But it also has a 99% conviction rate, and not because their police are so stellar that they always get the perpetrator on the first try. They hold you for extended periods of time and the system is set up to extract confessions. We know that people are weak to being coerced into false confessions even in countries where there is significantly less pressure and attempts to get them out of you. Also plenty of laws that have penalties that would be considered quite harsh compared to much of the western world - simple possession of pot can get you 5 years in prison, and intent to distribute/profit can get you 10 - and personal stash levels are plenty to bump you into that range.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- nottorp 2y ago
  There's also the other interpretation that prosecutors don't ... prosecute ... unless they're 99% sure they'll win.