Quote:
Originally Posted by Redrob
A Japanese person caught stealing would personally lose face and be an embarrassment to their friends and family bringing disgrace on everybody related to them.
Usually, you only see shoplifting by foreigners in Japan, especially the Africans from what my friends tell me.
|
This is the reason. From when the Japanese are born, conformity is the only game in town. Tall poppy syndrome. Nobody wants to be different. Enter here Redrobs quote....and to continue it by saying that most families would disown the perp. The other factor is that prison in Japan is not designed around ideas of rehabilitation, as in the West, ie make peeps fit for society again. No, there prison is built around "punishment". There are no organisations looking after the rights of prisoners. And you will suffer horribly. Though fear keeps the prols from looting, the real theft takes place during re-building, when the monster that is corruption drives up the price of everything to the benefit those who weld any form of power (in this, America has a deep understanding based on it's own experiences).
When there, yes, how kind and meek and wonderful are all the people you come into contact with. But, believe me, they really don't like you! (For a start, as a Westerner, you have an awful body odor for their sensitive oriental nostrils). All those stories of wallets returned after being found in Tokyo metro are true....but they always miss out the bit that you must reward the finder with something equal to the contents. They are inherently racist...you only have to see how they depict foreigners on TV. They are an island, with all the attitudes that carries.
Don't fall into the simplistic trap of seeing all through the eyes of the fleeting tourist.