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NOTES
I. Definition of Offenses and Terms
1. Definition of offenses
(1) Unless mentioned otherwise, the term “penal code offense” means an offense prescribed by the Penal Code (Act No. 45 of 1907) and the following special acts.
(i) Explosives Control Act (Cabinet Order No. 32 of 1884);
(ii) Act on Duels (Act No. 34 of 1889);
(iii) Act on the Punishment of Revenue Stamp Crimes (Act No. 39 of 1909);
(iv) Act on the Punishment of Physical Violence and Others (Act No. 60 of 1926);
(v) Act on the Prevention and Punishment of Burglary, Robbery, Theft, etc. (Act No. 9 of 1930);
(vi) Act on the Punishment of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (Act No. 68 of 1970);
(vii) Act on the Punishment of Crimes Relating to Environmental Pollution Which Adversely Affects the Health of Persons (Act No. 142 of 1970);
(viii) Act on the Punishment of Acts Causing Aviational Danger (Act No. 87 of 1974);
(ix) Act on the Punishment of Coercion and Other Related Acts Committed by Those Having Taken Hostages (Act No. 48 of 1978); and
(x) Act on the Punishment of Organized Crime, Control of Crime Proceeds and Other Matters (Act No. 136 of 1999).
(2) The term “negligence in the pursuit of social activities” means causing death or injury through negligence in the pursuit of social activities or gross negligence.
(3) The term “negligence in the pursuit of social activities in traffic accidents” means causing death or injury through negligence in the pursuit of social activities or gross negligence in traffic accidents.
(4) The term “non-traffic penal code offense” means penal code offenses excluding negligence in the pursuit of social activities in traffic accidents.
(5) The term “special act offense” means an offense against penal provisions other than the acts listed in (1).
(6) The term “violations of road traffic related acts” mean violations of the following acts.
(i) Road Traffic Act (Act No. 105 of 1960); and
(ii) Act on Securing Vehicle Parking Spaces (Act No. 145 of 1962).
(7) The term “violations of four statute traffic related acts” means violations of road traffic related acts and violations of the following acts.
(i) Road Trucking Vehicle Act (Act No. 185 of 1951); and
(ii) Automobile Liability Insurance Act (Act No. 97 of 1955)
(8) The term “violations of traffic acts including four statute traffic related acts” means “violations of four statute traffic related acts” and offenses prescribed by the following acts.
(i) Road Trucking Act (Act No. 183 of 1951)
(ii) Road Act (Act No. 180 of 1952)
(iii) National Expressway Act (Act No. 79 of 1957)
(iv) Act on Vehicle Parking Space (Act No. 106 of 1957)
(v) Act on Special Measures Concerning the Prevention of Traffic Accidents by Large Automobiles for Transportation of Earth, Sand, etc. (Act No. 131 of 1967)
(vi) Act on Special Measures for Promoting Proper Taxi Services (Act No. 75 of 1970)
(vii) Freight Transporting Business Act (Act No. 82 of 1989)
(viii) Trucking Business Act (Act No. 83 of 1989)
(ix) Act on the Prevention of Studded Tire Dusts (Act No. 55 of 1990); and
(x) Act for Promoting Proper Alternative Driver Services (Act No. 57 of 2001)
(9) The basic categories of penal code offenses include the following types of offense variations, unless specified otherwise.
(i) attempt;
(ii) preparation;
(iii) inducement and accessoryship;
(iv) offenses aggravated by results of an offense including robbery causing death or injury;
(v) forms of offenses aggravated or reduced based on professions, purposes, or titles, prescribed in the Penal Code other than negligence in the pursuit of social activities; and
(vi) aggravated forms of offenses prescribed in the Act on the Prevention and Punishment of Burglary, Robbery, Theft, etc.
(10) The following penal code offense categories include the offenses in parentheses.
(i) homicide (inducing or aiding suicide and homicide with consent);
(ii) robbery (homicide or rape at the scene of a robbery);
(iii) robbery causing death (homicide at the scene of a robbery)
(iv) injury (incitement of injury);
(v) intimidation (compulsion);
(vi) obstructing performance of public duty (destruction of seals, etc.); and
(vii) counterfeit (counterfeit of documents, etc., false entries in the original of notarized deeds, etc., and the uttering of these documents).
[Note]
Where the data source is the Criminal Statistics by National Police Agency:
(1) The term “penal code offenses” excludes violations of
(i) Act on the Punishment of Revenue Stamp Crimes; and
(ii) Act on the Punishment of Crimes Relating to Environmental Pollution which Adversely Affects the Health of Persons,
but includes violations of
(i) Act Punishing the Use of Molotov Cocktails (Act No. 17 of 1972)
(ii) Act for Special Measures Concerning Prevention of Mixing Toxic Substances into Distributed Foods (Act No. 103 of 1987)
(iii) Act on Prevention of Physical Injury by the Use of Sarin, etc. (Act No. 78 of 1995)
(iv) Act Punishing a Person in Public Office who Gains Profits by the Good Offices (Act No.130 of 2000); and
(v) Act Punishing the Financing, etc. for Offenses Purposing to Intimidate Public, etc. (Act No. 67 of 2002).
(2) The terms “assault” and “intimidation” include aggravated offenses provided in Article 1 and Article 1-3 of the Act on the Punishment of Physical Violence and Others, and the term “injury” includes aggravated offenses provided in Article 1-2 and Article 1-3 of the same act.
(3) The term “damage to property” includes concealment of letters and aggravated offenses provided in Article 1 and Article 1-3 of the Act on the Punishment of Physical Violence and Others.
(4) The term “negligence in the pursuit of social activities in traffic accidents” includes negligence causing death or injury related to traffic accidents on the roads.
(5) The term “special act offense” includes violations of
(i) Act on the Punishment of Revenue Stamp Crimes; and
(ii) Act on the Punishment of Crimes Relating to Environmental Pollution which Adversely Affects the Health of Persons,
but excludes violations of
(i) Act Punishing the Use of Molotov Cocktails
(ii) Act for Special Measures Concerning Prevention of Mixing Toxic Substances into Distributed Foods
(iii) Act on Prevention of Physical Injury by the Use of Sarin, etc.
(iv) Act Punishing a Person in Public Office who Gains Profits by the Good Offices; and
(v) Act Punishing the Financing, etc. for Offenses Purposing to Intimidate Public, etc.
Where the data source is the Annual Report of Judicial Statistics:
(6) The term “penal code offenses” excludes violations of
(i) Act on the Punishment of Revenue Stamp Crimes
(ii) Act on the Punishment of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft
(iii) Act on the Punishment of Crimes Relating to Environmental Pollution which Adversely Affects the Health of Persons
(iv) Act on the Punishment of Acts Causing Aviational Danger
(v) Act on the Punishment of Coercion and Other Related Acts Committed by Those Having Taken Hostages; and
(vi) Act on the Punishment of Organized Crime, Control of Crime Proceeds and Other Matters.
The term “special act offense” includes violations of these acts.
2. Definition of terms
(1) “Number of reported cases” refers to the number of cases whose occurrence came to known to the police or other investigative authorities through incident reports, complaints, charges or other causes.
(2) “Crime rate” means the number of reported cases per 100,000 persons.
(3) “Number of cleared cases” refers to the number of cases that are cleared. The number includes cases disposed by police as trivial offenses etc. in addition to those cases referred to public prosecutors.
(4) “Number of persons cleared” refers to the number of offenders cleared by police or other investigative authorities.
(5) “Number of referred cases” refers to the number of cases referred to prosecutors by the police and other investigative authorities.
(6) “Number of persons referred” refers to the number of offenders in the cases referred to prosecutors by the police and other investigative authorities.
(7) “Clearance rate” refers to the percentage of the number of cleared cases per the number of reported cases. Since “cleared cases” sometimes includes cases reported previous to the year before, the “clearance rate” sometimes exceeds 100.0%.
(8) “Number of persons newly received by public prosecutors offices” refers to the number of offenders received by public prosecutors directly or through judicial police officers (including special judicial police officers and inspectors of the National Tax Agency).
(9) “Prosecution rate” refers to the percentage of the number of offenders prosecuted per the sum of the number of offenders prosecuted and not prosecuted.
(10) “Suspended prosecution rate” refers to the percentage of the number of offenders granted suspension of prosecution per the sum of the number of offenders prosecuted and granted suspension of prosecution.
(11) “Court of first instance” refers to ordinary public trial procedures at the courts of first instance.
(12) The term “final disposition”, in prosecutorial context, refers to the disposition of a case by prosecutors, except transfer between Public Prosecutors Offices or suspension of investigation. In court procedural context, it refers to the disposition of a case by courts, except transfer or reference between courts (In Part 4, cases that went through joint hearing and are not included into finished cases as well).
(13) “Suspended execution rate” refers to the percentage of the number of offenders granted suspension of execution of sentence per the number of offenders sentenced to imprisonment with or without work for a limited term.
(14) “Visiting foreign nationals” refer to foreign nationals staying in Japan other than permanent residents, special permanent residents, those connected with U.S. forces based in Japan, and those with unclear status of residence. Where the data source is Criminal Statistics by National Police Agency or the Criminal Investigation Bureau, the term refers to foreign nationals staying in Japan other than established residents (permanent residents, etc.), those connected with U.S. forces based in Japan, and those with unclear permanent residency status.
(15) “Female rate” refers to the rate of females to the total of males and females.
(16) “Juvenile rate” refers to the rate of juveniles (under 20 years of age) to the total of juveniles and adults.
(17) Juvenile
(i) The term “junior juvenile” refers to a person 14 years of age and over but under 16 years of age.
(ii) The term “intermediate juvenile” refers to a person 16 years of age and over but under 18 years of age.
(iii) The term “senior juvenile” refers to a person 18 years of age and over but under 20 years of age.
(18) The term “commitment to the support facility for development of self-sustaining capacity or commitment to children's home” refers to a final disposition to juvenile by family courts. The reference to the term in the context prior to March 31, 1998 includes commitment to reform schools for juvenile delinquents and to residential care institutions for children.
(19) The terms “percent ratio” and “ratio” refer to percentage, unless specified otherwise.
3. Abbreviation of special acts
The following abbreviations are used in this paper for the main Japanese special acts. In figures and tables, the term “violation” is omitted for special act offenses except in titles and notes.
[Abbreviation] [Act]
Foreign Exchange Act …… Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (Act No. 228 of 1949)
Alien Registration Act …… Alien Registration Act (Act No. 125 of 1952)
Marine Pollution Prevention Act …… Act on the Prevention of Marine Pollution and Maritime Disaster (Act No. 136 of 1970)
Loan Business Control Act …… Loan Business Control Act (Act No. 32 of 1983)
Act against Child Prostitution and Pornography …… Act on Punishment of Activities Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of Children (Act No. 52 of 1999)
Firearms and Swords Control Act …… Act to Control the Possession of Firearms and Swords (Act No. 6 of 1958) (including the Cabinet Order to Control the Possession of Firearms and Swords (Cabinet Order No. 334 of 1950))
Investment Act …… Act on Regulation, etc. of Receiving of Capital Subscription, Deposits and Interest on Deposits, etc. (Act No. 195 of 1954)
Act on Medical Care and Treatment for Insane Persons or Persons with Diminished Capacity …… Act on Medical Care and Treatment for Insane Persons or Persons with Diminished Capacity Who have Caused Serious Injury to Others (Act No. 110 of 2003)
Stalker Control Act …… Act on Proscribing Stalking Behavior and Assisting Victims (Act No. 81 of 2000)
Anti-Organized Crime Act …… Act on Punishment of Organized Crime, Control of Crime Proceeds and Other Matters (Act No. 136 of 1999)
Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act …… Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act (Act No.303 of 1950)
Anti-Monopoly Act …… Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade (Act No. 54 of 1947)
Specified Commercial Transactions Act …… Act on Specified Commercial Transactions (Act No. 57 of 1976)
Immigration Control Act …… Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (Cabinet Order No. 319 of 1951)
Wastes Disposal Act …… Wastes Disposal and Public Cleaning Act (Act No. 137 of 1970)
Spouse Violence Prevention Act …… Act on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims (Act No. 31 of 2001)
Adult Entertainment Act …… Act Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses, etc. (Act No. 122 of 1948)
Unauthorized Computer Access Act …… Act on Prohibition of Unauthorized Computer Access (Act No. 128 of 1999)
Physical Violence Act …… Act on Punishment of Physical Violence and Others (Act No. 60 of 1926)
Vehicle Parking Spaces Act …… Act on Securing Vehicle Parking Spaces (Act No. 145 of 1962)
Act on Special Provisions for Narcotics …… Act on Special Provisions for the Act to Control Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, etc. and Other Matters for the Prevention of Activities Encouraging Illicit Conducts and Other Activities Involving Controlled Substances through International Cooperation (Act No. 94 of 1991)
Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act …… Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act (Act No. 14 of 1953)
Public Drunkenness Prevention Act …… Act for the Prevention of the Act of Causing Public Nuisance by Drunkenness, etc. (Act No. 103 of 1961)
Worker Dispatch Act …… Act for the Proper Operation of Worker Dispatch Business and the Improvement of Working Conditions of Dispatched Workers, etc. (Act No. 88 of 1985)
4. Abbreviation of country names
The following abbreviations are used in the text as well as in figures and tables.
[Region] [Conventional Short Form] [Conventional Long Form]
Asia Afghanistan Islamic State of Afghanistan
Bangladesh People's Republic of Bangladesh
China People's Republic of China
Iran Islamic Republic of Iran
South Korea Republic of Korea
Pakistan Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Philippines Republic of the Philippines
Singapore Republic of Singapore
Sri Lanka Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Thailand Kingdom of Thailand
Vietnam Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Europe Belgium Kingdom of Belgium
France French Republic
Germany Federal Republic of Germany
Italy Republic of Italy
Netherlands / Holland Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Russia Russian Federation
North America United States of America United States of America
South America Brazil Federative Republic of Brazil
Colombia Republic of Colombia
Peru Republic of Peru
Africa Nigeria Federal Republic of Nigeria
Oceania Australia Commonwealth of Australia
[Notes]
Conventional short forms of names of countries are based on the “Table of Country Names” compiled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
II. Data Sources
1. Type of statistical materials
Statistics, figures, tables and other calculated data are provided by following Bureaus of the Ministry of Justice; Criminal Affairs, Correction, Rehabilitation, Human Rights and Immigration. Data are also obtained from various researches and surveys conducted by relevant agencies, as well as from the following official statistics.
- Criminal Statistics by National Police Agency
(Criminal Investigation Bureau, National Police Agency)
- Annual Report of Statistics on Prosecution
(Judicial System Department, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Justice)
- Annual Report of Judicial Statistics
(General Secretariat of the Supreme Court)
- Annual Report of Statistics on Correction
(Judicial System Department, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Justice)
- Annual Report of Statistics on Rehabilitation
(Judicial System Department, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Justice)
- Annual Report of Statistics on Immigration Control
(Judicial System Department, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Justice)
[Notes]
(1) Criminal Statistics by National Police Agency was entitled “Criminal Statistics” until 1963 and renamed “Crime in 19xx (various years)” in 1964. For the purpose of this paper, both of them are referred to as “Criminal Statistics by National Police Agency”
(2) Statistical data up to 1972 do not include the data of May 14, 1972 and prior to the date of Okinawa Prefecture.
(3) All data sources are indicated using the names of ministries and agencies after the reorganization of central government ministries and agencies in January 2001.
2. Coverage of statistical materials
Statistical materials cover the period up to 2006 and available data at July 2007.
For those statistical data for 2006 that were not available in form of official publication at the time of drafting, we used raw data offered by the relevant agencies. Those data are provisional in nature and may differ from the corresponding data in the subsequent publication. In such cases, the White Paper on Crime would correct the relevant figures in the White Paper on Crime for the coming years. In addition, we will do so accordingly with any change within the official statistical publications.
III. Presentation of Figures and Tables
1. Numbering of figures and tables
The numbering of figures and tables are indicated in the order of the part, chapter, section (for example, Fig. 2-4-2-3 indicates Part 2, Chapter 4, Section 2, Figure 3.).
2. Presentation of values, etc.
(1) Numerical values, etc., in tables are presented as follows:
(i) “ – ” zero in number or not applicable or the percentage thereof
(ii) “0” number that does not reach one when rounded off
(iii) “0.0” percent ratio that does not reach 0.1 when rounded off
(iv) “…” data/statistical materials not available, or when the parameter is zero
(2) Numerical values in figures are presented as follows:
(i) “0” zero in number or not applicable.
(ii) “0.0” percent distribution that does not reach 0.1 when rounded off.
IV. Other
1. In the White Paper on Crime, “treatment” refers to treatment that persons cleared by police or other investigative authorities receive at each stage of prosecution, trial, correction, and rehabilitation.
2. Calculation method
The percent ratios, percentages, etc., in statistical figures and tables are rounded off. Therefore, the figures for percent ratio may not add up to 100.0.
Also, the sum of or difference between ratios is calculated by first doing addition or subtraction and rounding off the value obtained by the addition or subtraction. Therefore, this sum or difference may not match the value obtained by first rounding off each ratio and doing the addition or subtraction.
For example, when calculating the difference between 12.76 and 7.53, the result 5.2 obtained by subtracting 7.53 from 12.76 and rounding off the value 5.23 does not match the result 5.3 obtained by subtracting the rounded off value of 7.5 from the rounded off value of 12.8.
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