Is Japan safe? Can you let your guard down and walk down dark alleys at night with out a care in the world?

Question

Is there a lot of robberies and assaults in Japan?

Answer 1

there are even robberies and assaults in wyoming.. lol

crime EXISTS lol but its relatively safe. i used to walk home at night at like 3 AM drunk hahaha. don't experiment by walking down a dark alley by yourself with a bikini on, but girls can walk alone at night if they have to. the only creepy thing i've ever seen is a male flasher.. and even that man didn't try to rape me.. he just wanted me to see his p***s x(

i just read some of the other answers and pfff! i can tell they are bullshitting. i lived in chiba (very close to tokyo) and its a very safe city. my friends and i would go to tokyo often and its very crowded.. my theory is that if you are in a crowded area.. no one will harm you bc there are too many witnesses.

people say new york city is the most dangerous city but i live there now and as long as you have common sense, you will be fine.

Answer 2

No matter where you are in the world you should never let your guard down. Always pay attention, crime happens everywhere. And Japan is an entire country. There are safe areas and dangerous ones. Look up where you are going and use your common sense.

Answer 3

Walking down a dark alley at night with no care in the world is a sign of either mental instability or you're drunk - which are the types of people you'll likely find in a dark alley anyway.

In Japan it's almost entirely of the second variety. I'll say that I frequently walked home between 1 and 3 am from Rokujizo to Momoyama (near Kyoto) and never felt like I was threatened. Originally I was a bit off-kilter about doing so, but after encountering some school-girls wandering the same streets (they were actually more afraid of me, the skinny white foreigner, than of the drunken Japanese businessman wandering the streets with me) I realized that if anything I'm the person they don't want to meet in a dark alley.

I suppose that's due to the homogeneity of the country.

Case in point: if you're in the suburbs, you shouldn't do it but if you have to you'll undoubtedly be fine. If you're in a major city, I'd question your judgment if the alley was really "dark".

Personally, I always found that if there's drunken businessmen or people that look like they're having a good time (aka: if nobody looks shady) things are a-ok.

Last advice: there's no universal rule. Use your best judgment - if you don't feel safe, don't reassure yourself you are and keep going, make sure to put some in depth thought as to why you don't feel safe, and then get somewhere you do feel safe.

Answer 4

depends on where you are..when i lived there i didnt care i went everywhere at all times of the day and never had a problem...we lived in japan for 3 years and had 1 drunk try to break into your home and the japaneese cops beat that guy down and locked him  up for 5 years with only rice and fish heads to eat...japan is safe and just like most places just keep ya head up and pay attention to whats going on around you and you will be fine  

Answer 5

Japan has a far lower crime rate than the US. Detroit has a higher crime rate than the whole country of Japan.

No, there are not alot of robberies or assaults. Some of them have been commited by US marines against Japanese citizens.

Japan is very safe. But you need to use COMMON SENSE ! Only a fool would walk down a dark alley ANYWHERE.

Answer 6

Japan has many places safer than some city of USA.

However, as many wisdom has been told you already, It doesn't mean full and eternal safe guaranteed for you everywhere every time in Japan.

Robbery and assault may happen but the possibility might be fewer if you just prepare and behave commonsensically.

Answer 7

Well, technically, no dark alleys at night are safe.

If I were you, I wouldn't let my guard down.

Japan is too general. If you mean the major cities, it's bad.

Especially in Asia, where corporal punishment is legal and stuff,

people will just pass by if they see someone getting mugged or jumped or assaulted, etc.

I mean, who would just jump in and try to save someone that you don't know at all, and risk your own life? Besides, cops don't do much.

Tokyo, for example, is VERY dangerous. There are many cases in which innocent people are robbed, and there have been a lot of raping cases. After rape, the culprits chop up the victim's body and trash it in different areas. Again, Japan's not a safe place where your life can be happy-go-round.

Don't let your guard down.

I'm not saying Japan in general is a gangster land, but your question was about Japan at night. Well, it's no different from other parts of the world. Danger's everywhere. Don't let your guard down.

If you're asking because you'll be traveling, I wish you a happy and safe trip!

P.S. Just like the NY's got the Bloods and Cripz, Japan's got its own Yakuza