Photo/Illutration The National Police Agency in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The number of reported criminal offenses in Japan last year was 737,679, a 4.9 percent increase from 2023, according to statistics released by the National Police Agency on Feb. 6.

This marks the third consecutive year that crime has increased, with the level almost back to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 70 percent of the reported cases are thefts, with minor offenses, such as bike thefts, on the rise. Fraud and other more serious property crimes are also increasing.

Last year saw a series of robberies committed by individuals recruited through social media, many of whom were first-time offenders and ordinary citizens with regular day jobs.

The NPA stated that it is still too early to determine whether this indicates a deterioration in the nation’s overall crime situation.

The number of reported criminal offenses had been declining since its peak of 2.85 million in 2002. However, it increased in 2022 for the first time in two decades as the country emerged from the pandemic.

Thefts increased by 3.7 percent in 2024, with a particular surge in bicycle thefts and shoplifting, which rose by 6 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.

Serious crimes rose by 18.1 percent, including a 6.4 percent increase in homicides and a 0.7 percent increase in robberies.

In addition, reported rape cases jumped by 45.2 percent, and other sexual offenses increased by 14.7 percent, both showing significant rises among reported male victims.

Cases of voyeuristic, non-consensual filming also more than tripled compared to the previous year.

The NPA believes that reports of these sex crimes surged due to the enactment of more laws addressing them and the creation of a more accessible environment for people to seek help.

The amount of damages caused by property crimes, such as fraud and theft, increased by 59.6 percent from the previous year to 402.1 billion yen ($2.6 billion).

This surpassed the 375.9 billion yen in 2002, the highest since 1989.

Among these crimes, fraud showed the sharpest increase in damages, rising by 89.1 percent to 307.5 billion yen.

The most commonly cited motive for fraud was financial hardship, increasing to 39.9 percent.

In a survey conducted by the NPA, 56.4 percent of respondents said Japan is a safe country, a decrease of 8.3 percentage points from the previous year.

The survey also found that 76.6 percent of those polled believed Japanese neighborhoods are less safe now than they were 10 years ago, an increase of 4.7 percentage points from the previous year.

When asked to list crimes contributing to this perception, 69 percent of respondents cited fraud, followed by cybercrimes involving the breach of private data and home burglary.

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