Japan’s slippage from the world’s number two economy to number three will likely unleash more criticism of its highly restrictive immigration policies, especially from the New York Times. It’s hard to think of a greater repudiation of the American public creed of maximal “diversity” than Japan’s stubborn determination to remain monocultural. Japan’s economy may well be stifled by its resistance to immigration, though in sophisticated manufacturing for technology and energy, it has few competitors. However misguided Japan’s hostility to outsiders, the following crime figures, from a forthcoming book by the criminologist Frank Zimring, may explain part of its reluctance to embrace multiculturalism. The rates are crimes per 100,000 of population in 2007:
Robbery:
New York: 265
London: 610
Sydney (2006): 159
Tokyo: 4.7
Toronto: 133
Burglary:
New York: 254
London: 1290
Sydney (2006): 1008
Tokyo: 137
Toronto: 362
Rape:
New York: 10.6
London: 30.7
Sydney (2006): 51.4
Tokyo: 1.8
Toronto: N.A.
Update: New York has the lowest crime rate of any big U.S. city, by several magnitudes, thanks to 17 straight years of Compstat policing; put Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Phoenix, Hartford, Newark, or Miami up against Tokyo, and the differences would be even greater.
I knew London was slipping, but WTF!!??? 2.5X the robberies of NYC? 5X the burglaries? 3X the rapes? Sydney doesn’t look so hot either.
As far as Japan goes, it’s been punching well above its weight for a long time now. That China, a nation with 1 billion people (almost 10X Japan’s pop.) would surpass them is hardly surprising. A better economic measurement is still GDP per capita. On that measure, Japan would probably fall behind a few European nations, but it would still look pretty good.
Ah, right, because that crime gap is obviously caused by “diversity.” Couldn’t have anything to do with centuries of cultural differences, slavery/segregation, higher Gini coefficients, more effective police forces as a result of not having that pesky “Bill of Rights,” or any of a dozen other potential factors.
Next time my diverse, immigrant, American-dream father, my diverse Ivy-educated siblings, or my diverse law firm co-workers, talk to me about voting Republican, I’ll be sure to point them here to help remind them what even the most sane, reasonable members of the right really think about them.
Lowest US City with population 100,000 and more Irvine Ca. Irivne is about 36 percent asian and in the youth population about 45 percent. Long life too like Japan, around 84 years.
Heather, “Japan’s hostility to outsiders” isn’t exactly the right formulation. I’ve lived in Japan for almost 30 years, and Japanese are almost universally friendly and helpful to foreigners. It’s true that it is difficult for foreigners to fit in, but that is really just an unintended consequence of an extremely “synchronized” culture. Japan is extremely Japanese. And Japanese intellectuals don’t hate Japan, unlike some places I could mention. One in 20 marriages in Japan is international now. That’s not hostility. Imagine that you are a member of a square dancing team. All your friends and relatives are members and have been since they were young. Suddenly some new guy who doesn’t understand square-dancing wants to join. The team members are bound to be skeptical.
Next time my diverse, immigrant, American-dream father, my diverse Ivy-educated siblings, or my diverse law firm co-workers, talk to me about voting Republican…
I’m sure you’ll let them know via The Unicorn Express.
Hay Diverse Non-Criminal, if the racism up there is so terrible, why don’t you come join me here in South-Africa? Let’s see 1 in 3 girls will get raped at least once before reaching the age of 16. Guess you can blame Apartheid, every time my car gives me hassles I certainly blame Apartheid. I knew a white guy who emmigrated to Scotland after being hijacked twice, stabbed twice and once shot in the leg, 8 weeks later he came back and moved into a flat in Rocky Street armed with a pistol, baseball bat and a panga. I don’t know if he is still alive but I guess adrenalin addiction is as good as any other. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy you can try our northern neighbours Zimbabwe or even Zaire, land of the brave and sometimes hungry. Guess you can blame colonialism, hay as long as there is someone to blame right. I once read that at the end of colonialism less then 15% of Africans ever saw a white man, so maybe it was a lack of diversity that caused all Africa’s problems. Perhaps the answer to the world’s problems is that the entire human race migrate to Japan,….perhaps not.
I think your statistics are misleading, lower crime rates in tokoyo could be due to lower unemployment and an older population.
Yes Saturn.
You just KNOW that the stats are misleading, right ? You just know for sure that the possible difference in the age distribution between Tokyo and the other cities is what makes the difference, right ?
More than anything, you just **know** for sure that the low crime rates in Tokyo have absolutely nothing at all to do with the city being filled with people of japanese culture and genetic heritage. Boy I wish i could know as much as you do.
Diverse Non-Criminal · February 15, 2011 at 1:01 am
Ah, right, because that crime gap is obviously caused by “diversity.”
…
I’ll be sure to point them here to help remind them what even the most sane, reasonable members of the right really think about them.
——
Sure, because the bloggers here think that ivy-league educated “diverse” people are robbers, thieves and rapists. It’s that simple isn’t it ?
Well, it does show how diversity poisons everything.
It’s precisely because you see yourself as belonging to a different group than most of the bloggers here that you feel no shame in grossly misrepresenting their doubts about pan-diversity.
The japanese would rather not import into their midst large numbers of people who will break the very strong social links that unite them at the moment.
They don’t want to import large numbers of people like you who will *systematically* side against the indigenous japanese and be on the side of “diverse”and “vibrant” criminals, if ever given the chance.
In Japan, the police do not open an official investigation of a crime unless they are almost sure they will solve it or the perpetrator is obvious. It’s important that the department have high clearance stats (very close to 100% of cases are solved in Japan) so that the police do not lose face, so they only count something as a crime if they are virtually certain it will not go unsolved.
If someone snatches your purse on the street and is caught in the act and detained and the police arrest the snatcher, that will count in the stats; but if it’s just some random person you don’t recognize and he gets away, the police will not count that as a purse snatching and it will never enter the stats.
Your theses may still be valid, but Japan’s crime rates are not directly comparable to other countries’ that count their stats differently.
I lived in Japan for 9 years during the 90’s. If the Japanese want to keep Japan “Japanese”, its nobody’s business but their own. Its their country. They can do WTF they want with it.
And no, I don’t think Japan’s economy would be improved by large amounts of immigration. In fact, I think it would be worse. Things in Japan generally work, which is more than can be said about other places.
Japan still is number two in per capita income and they do lots of manufacturing. Instead of immigration, the Japanese are pursuing the development of advanced automation and robotics.
It would be interesting to see facts from other counties as well; france, greece, australia, gana, yemen etc.
multiculturalism vs. monoculturalism