The recent circumstances of crimes in Japan are deteriorating. The number of reported penal code offenses has been renewing postwar highs since 1996 and the number of persons cleared is also increasing, whereas a far greater number of offenses are reported and the clearance rate continues to decrease. More specifically, serious and heinous crimes that are frightening people in the society, such as the indiscriminate killing/assault in the premises of an elementary school and the killing of all the members of a family, happen one after another. Furthermore, the number of drug offenses still remains at a high level and other various offenses that threaten the peaceful life of Japanese people show no sign of decline.
  Under these circumstances in Japan, people seem to feel that there is a deterioration of public security and their fear about public security in Japan seems to be increasing. Furthermore, as we frequently see offenses that are difficult to understand in accordance with conventional frameworks or measures, such as burglary and robbery from houses with the use of lock-picking tools and robbery of safes in a daring manner as well as bizarre homicide, it can be presumed that some types of offenses are also changing in respect of their nature. Moreover, there is fear that ordinary people who have never been involved in offenses are becoming offenders, while there still exists concern over the frequent occurrence of offenses committed by foreign nationals visiting Japan, which has come to have a significant influence on public security in Japan.
  In light of these circumstances of crimes, the 2001 White Paper featured a special article under the theme of "Increasing Offenses and Offenders" and attempted statistical analysis focusing on larceny, traffic offenses, drug offense and offenses by foreign nationals among increasing offenses. The 2002 White Paper focuses on a total of 9 types of offenses, robbery, bodily injury, assault, intimidation, extortion, rape, indecent assault, breaking and entering, and destruction of objects (referred to as "destruction of objects, etc." in the Notes; hereinafter the same in Part 5), all of which are showing particularly significant increase, in addition to larceny, traffic offenses and drug offenses that were addressed in the previous white paper, and features a special article under the theme of "Present Situation and Trend of Offenses of Violent Nature", which is seen in various scenes of ordinary life. As mentioned later, these 9 types of offenses of a violent nature scare and frighten people and threaten their ordinary life. Along with changes in awareness of society and senses of value, the trends of these offenses are also changing. It seems significant to closely analyze the present situation and trend of these offenses and find their causes.