According to the Global Peace Index announced by Vision of Humanity, the top 10 safest countries are as follows:
- Iceland
- NewZealand
- Portugal
- Austria
- Denmark
- Canada
- Singapore
- Czech Republic
- Japan
- Switzerland
As you can see, Japan is the 9th safest country in this ranking.
In this article, I will write how I, as a Japanese who has lived in Japan more than 25 years, feel about the safety of living in Japan.
1. Japan is pretty safe.
I think Japan is pretty safe.
I have some experiences that I lost my house key and train card with credit card function but everytime those lost items were found and delivered to a police station.
One time, my husband got drunk in Roppongi and came home without his bag which included his phone, credit card and residence card.
(He didn’t even wear shoes when he got back home!)
But the phone and all the cards which was in his phone case came back!!
I’m sure you can see how safe Japan is by this story.
I lived in New Zealand (2nd safest country in the rankings) for about 4 years. Comparing Japan with New Zealand, I think small crimes such as thefts happen quite a lot more in New Zealand.
You cannot take your eyes off your belongings anywhere in New Zealand, while a lot of people leave their bags on a chair to keep their seats in cafes and restaurants in Japan.
(I still recommend not to do that.)
2. Crazy cases terrifying people.
Although I feel Japan is pretty safe overall, there are incredibly horrible cases such as the serial killing in Zama, Kanagawa or the indiscriminate killing on a bullet train.
I think most murder cases happen with reasons, but sometimes people kill people without reasons but for fulfilling their desires…
3. Ending
I think Japan is a safe country overall, but some crazy crimes really happen though the possibility of getting involved in such incidents is low.
To protect yourself, you should be careful by watching out and keeping away from suspicious people.
