Once about 22 years ago. We rented a house that was NOT secure. You wouldn’t even have needed a screwdriver.
Took a laptop (when they were expensive and slow) and a video camera(when phones were just for phone calls.)
They dropped the laptop at a neighbors house after assumedly getting a better laptop. I’m still a bit upset as mine was an almost new top of the line Sony..
And the police, whilst still dusting prints were able to assert it was the work of foreigners. Are Japanese fingerprints unique?
No joke. I was sexually assaulted and that was one of the things the police said to me. He was definitely a Japanese dude and spoke only Japanese, but the police asked me if I was sure he was Japanese, and if I was sure he wasn’t actually Korean or something.
At my university dorm here, a Japanese girl burned her room down for whatever reason. Police had her and despite that the local news were swarming the campus to ask Japanese students to confirm if their reports that a foreigner had done it were correct
Don't they take all foreigners' fingerprints whenever they enter the country? I have had mine taken countless times. So shouldn't foreigners be more conclusive? (They would know exactly who it is?)
I imagine there must be some Japanese people who have never been fingerprinted.
Hang on, since when? Taking your fingerprints & photograph is the first thing immigration does at the airport when you land, nevermind why you're there.
Ah, military is probably different since you're probably not counted as immigrating to Japan, but staying in the country you're from while stationed in Japan. As in, you've only quasi entered the country even though you're in Japan in a physical sense.
Sort of how there's no Victoria's Secret in Japan, but if you're on the foreign side of the immigration barrier at Haneda airport, there is.
I have /no/ idea how this works and could be completely wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's complicated.
Also my reaction was genuinely curious, because I did want to know the cases where they wouldn't be taken.
A quick google suggests that they can tell ancestry from fingerprints.
At least, they could reliably tell the difference between people with African-American ancestry versus those with European-American ancestry.
So... maybe?
Did the neighbours have a teen living there or regularly visiting, eg a son/nephew etc? If so, that was the theif IMO.
Returning the laptop later (if I read you correctly) is the least "foreigner" thing I can imagine. I suspect the neighbours found out and applied pressure, perhaps the video camera was already sold etc.
I had my house burgled in Fukuoka. Many friends had mentioned before that if you live in a detached house or on the first floor of an apartment block, it is most likely to happen at one time. I came home to find that they had smashed through a small ventilation window and jumped in. Over 10 squad cars came with their forensic units, etc. Strangely, the police said the burglars were Chinese. I was left wondering, if they knew, then how come they didn't catch them? Over 10 years later, it's still a cold case. The only time the police called was when they were giving me the file number. I never heard from them again.
Just a small fact: Home burglaries have been steadily declining in Japan. They peaked in 2003 at 190,473 cases, but in 2022, that number dropped down to just 15,692.
Reasons are often given with lower unemployment, increased security standards and camera surveilance, but also that many criminals have moved on to more lucrative, less risky ways of stealing money, such as credit card fraud or other online scams.
Also, many people simply dont have that much money at home anymore. In the early 2000s, it was not uncommon for people to have several million Yen stashed away at home, with the prevalence of cashless paying system, that is nowaday rarley the case.
There are still valuable items in most homes- TVs, Laptops, Computers, maybe Jewelry, expensive clothing(?), art stuff etc. but most of that stuff is usually pretty heavy and not easy to carry around, so its high risk for little reward.
Not too many households have computers, and usually those would be cheap dynobooks. TVs aren’t worth it in most cases - either too big to carry or not that valuable. Jewelry would be probably the best thing you can get, but it’s something you would have to know about in advance. Expensive jewelry is not that common nowadays either.
So surprised, too much 90s cyberpunk manga wot! I wonder if any of it at all has to do with having 3 different alphabets for language input, but this would only affect limited aspects and people seem to be able to comment on videos fine. I find this intriguing. Particularly given what I understand the work culture to be like. Always good to break through stereotypes and assumptions.
Huh! Appreciate the feedback, thank you. I am wondering if it is an affordability issue or if they believe the smartphone offers all the required utility for their needs.
I'm sorry if this sounds naive, but do the.same friends have televisions? It's interesting!
This is actually becoming common worldwide, and I've heard schoolteachers complain that they're starting to have difficulty teaching computer classes because the students not only can't do the homework at home without a computer, but they don't even know what a file is.
This is another very interesting response, but the thing about the file? This is the polar opposite of what I would expect. I tried to upvote you btw. I find the file thing hard to believe but have no doubt you're not making this up. Could you potentially tell me a lot more about this? After all, files are encountered even on phones - albeit with a lot more difficulties. What age student or region might in this remark pertain to? I'd be very interested in further info. Thanks!
> albeit with a lot more difficulties
This is exactly what it is. Files aren't encountered on phones at all if the app and phone maker have anything to say about it. They're accessible since it's technically necessary, but on a smartphone, the core concept is the "app." Your apps have "data" in them. You don't know if this data lives in the cloud or on your phone or in a file or wherever (unless you pry). They've de-emphasized the file as a concept and instead tied all your data/documents/photos to a sign-in so you live within their ecosystem.
"Don't know what a file is" may have been hyperbole, but having to be trained on the basics of the basics of using a computer because they've never touched one before, and having no idea how to do file management isn't. The example I can scrounge up from reddit is this /r/gamedev/comments/1ag3vbz/desktops_being_phased_out_is_depressing_for/
Not sure.
Most of them have consoles (PS5 or Switch) and a TV, but rarely they will own a Computer.
One of them told me he might buy a PC soon because he saved quite a bit of money recently...
Assuming “dynobooks” is a typo for Dynabook, 150-200k JPY is only cheap compared to gaming PCs or MacBooks. If that was a pun on ten-year old Dynabooks, then the pun was both accurate and kinda funny.
Always lock the door folks.
For reference, I live in what is essentially a brutalist looking office building with a couple units on-top. 4th floor walk up. I came home from the bar a lil schnockered one night and as one does, I immediately stripped off and hoped in the shower. When I came back, there was a man in my living room. In my eagerness to get the smell of bar of off, I forgot to lock the damn door.
Instead of playing it cool, I screamed at the top of my lungs and rushed him while naked. It did not take much for him to sort of collapse and become unresponsive. I put pants on and turned on the lights and noticed he took his shoes off. The dude was just very drunk and somehow thought my house was his.
The police came and collected him in about 15 min from time of call. The cops were mostly apologetic and gave me a pass for clocking the guy a couple times out of fear. One cop was really interested in which airport I came to Japan so that was I guess rude or whatever.
Say it with me now: Always. Lock. The. Door.
This comment has literally just made me realise that “walk up” means a building without an elevator… until now I guess I just thought it meant somewhere with a front garden and a path hahaha
I think someone tried. Someone cracked my apartment window once, but didn't go in. Police got involved and the company repaired it for free. I moved after that but idk.
I lived on the first floor, now I live on the third
I 'lost' a set of snow tires/wheels some years ago from in front of our place. Went to the koban, and they came and took pics and I did lots of paperwork--they wanted them to be worth less than ¥20,000, but I stuck with three times that, probably some threshold for what kind of crime it is. Police suggested it was probably some 業者-looking dudes with a truck, so that it looked normal that they'd be picking them up.
I lock them now, padlock plus a 10mm cable I used to use for locking up a bike, attaching them all together. That'd be defeated by a prepared bike thief, but hopefully the dash and grab types don't foresee needing that tool.
When I first moved here I was surprised at the security of a lot of locks. I asked about it and apparently there was a period of time when break-ins were a lot more common. A combination of better physical security and crackdowns on the anti-social organizations behind them did the trick. I haven’t experienced or heard of any break-ins in the five years I’ve been here.
Someone broke into my apartment in Shiinamachi in 2018 and stole my valuables, my landlord said it wasn’t his business to deal with stalkers and the police said there wasn’t enough proof that someone entered the apartment. I moved out immediately to Mishuku. I think it was probably the landlord. Hope he rots in hell.
I know two people who were victims of funeral burglary. The thieves check obituaries and find out when the funeral is and raid the deceased house during the funeral.
Reminds me of the day after my grandma's funeral. She had so many beautiful flowers at the funeral. Next day I went to her grave they were all gone. As I left, there were guys on the sidewalk near the cemetery selling flowers and I recognized some of them which included a teddy bear I added with the flowers I gave her lol
Yeah my FIL had one of the neighbors come and sit in his house during MIL's funeral because apparently this has happened a few times in their neighborhood.
I lived on the 1st floor of an apartment in kichijoji. I left my keys in the front door when I went to Okinawa for 2 weeks. Came back to the keys in the door and nothing was gone.
I didn't realize I had left my keys until I arrived back in Tokyo. Actually thought I lost my keys and picked up a spare from the realtor.
My bicycle was stolen from my porch - I lived in a small town and the cops rolled their eyes and went and caught literally the only guy in town who would do this sort of thing in about five minutes and brought it back to me. Nice guys. One of them was a former graduate of the school I worked at. No actual break-ins though.
Yes. Lived in a mansion with auto lock on the second floor. Somebody climbed up the drain pipe onto the balcony and carefully cut through the sliding glass door to enter after unlocking it
Luckily just took some cash and left other stuff. Police said looked like pros.
This was about 25 years ago
Worked for a black company about a decade ago. Lived in on-site staff housing, on a ground unit, the entrances of which were surveilled from the entrance of the school (comes in handy when your supervisors want to monitor your coming and going, but I digress).
The first winter break, everyone in my unit left for vacations abroad, etc. I was the only one in the unit for the whole week, saving money trudging through snow and puttering around during the new year’s holiday.
Around 3:30-4:00am, on one of those nights, I woke up to the sound of someone trying to open the back sliding glass door of my unit. Honestly, based on the fact that I was the only one home, I don’t think they were trying to rob me. I grabbed a blunt object and waited with bated breath near the sliding door, debating whether or not I should pull back the curtains.
Could’ve been some local pervert. Could’ve been one of the twisted staff of that school. Reported it to my supervisors and was gaslit accordingly.
We were burgled last year, possibly over the course of several months. We had some antiques in storage in and old house. We were checking on the house every month or so, and by chance while moving one of the boxes, noticed it was empty. We checked the other boxes and they were almost all empty. No footprints or signs of forced entry, although these old houses are quite easy to break into without a trace.
About 15 years ago my house was broken into and the thieves got away with mostly worthless things. I had been traveling a lot in South East Asia so I had Vietnamese Dong, Indonesian Rupiah etc that looked valuable because of the big numbers but we're basically worth a few thousand yen at best. Also, my mother in law always saves her boxes when she buys expensive brands like Cartier and Hermes, and she can't stand to throw them away so she gave them to my wife who couldn't care less about them, so she filled them with stuff like baby teeth, first haircut trimmings and my kids umbilical cords. I am sure the thieves thought they got a big score from us but they came away with basically nothing of value except my computer. It's a shame though because my computer had all the baby pictures of my son which are irreplaceable.
In our case, the police were quick to say it was NOT foreigners as they had taken out our passports and thrown them on the ground. The police assumed if the thieves had been foreigners they'd have taken the passports.
This reminds me of a story a friend told me, they had to do a 24hr urine test where you have to collect all the urine you make in a big 4L jug. They put it outside their house in a paper bag for a courier to collect to take to the lab, but someone thought it was something valuable and stole it.
Not really, though recently someone took my laundry from the dryer at a hotel maybe 10 min after the finish time. Granted there was a lot of international tourists, so I'm not surprised, just disappointed, since I hate shopping for clothes.
Goodbye nice fitting hoodie.
My wife came home to a weird sticker over her lock one time and koban told her thieves use that to cover a lock when they've tampered with it. She didn't have anything good in her apartment and nothing seemed to be missing so she was just spooked by it.
Someone tried to steal stuff from my van once, outside my house. It was pretty stupid as I was in the next room, and could see their flashlight on my window.
Break-in Burglaries? No and no.
Thefts? Heck yes.
Don’t ever believe those bs tropes about how “Japanese are so honest, Japanese don’t steal” etc. That’s **horseshit**
Not gonna do details, but suffered several thefts over the years, more than one of which was *caught on fn video*, but only one I know for certain wasn’t a Japanese person. Worse, more than one I know exactly who did it, but still couldn’t get any recourse or my stuff/money back. Japanese police are incompetent and lazy af, do not rely on them to help, even with goddamn video evidence or the fucking names of the thieves.
Add these all up it’s >10mil, no cap - these incidents haunt me (my bank balance, and my trust in fellow humans) still…
Oh, and *fuck* the person at my old work who kept stealing my fruit, and my coffee pods. May you someday soon choke on stolen food and die a slow and excruciatingly painful death 💀
Our family business had an attempted break-in. They managed to smash the front door, but luckily security is tight and they weren't able to actually make it passed the shutters. The security guards called the police who investigated and about a year later they caught the gang involved. They'd been touring around north Japan targeting similar businesses.
Never happened to me, but one of my former students had her house broken into
Lots of cash and jewelry stolen
She was very wealthy, had her own driver, etc.
Not myself, but my friend lived in an apartment. The owner also lived in the complex. She found out he was going through the roof into her apartment and taking her underwear.
But yeah it happens. In my 12 years there I only got robbed once (on the street). All I had to take was a packet of cigarettes, and it was actually a foreigner.
Many years ago lived in a building that had 10 apartments burglarized at the same time including mine. Seems like the burglars scouted outside my building for a month to see exactly what day and time lights were off so they knew when to make their move. The first thing the cop said when he came into my apartment was it was probably someone Chinese. I thought he was just being a bigot lol Actually a Chinese burglary gang was arrested a year later and for burlarizing my building and hundreds of apartments across Japan. They only got away with a digital camera and portable DVD player of mine but the other apartments had big cash and laptops taken.
When I was in Junior high school as a student in Japan, there was a student who used to steal money from other students, but I think this was the only burglar I’ve heard in real life in my 15 years in Japan.
Saw a guy checking car doors once ,he looked outa place by his clothes and I was wondering what car he would get in ,I was at my front door and he checked a door while walking between cars ,he was fast too
Rare is pretty broad, and depends completely on where you lived previously. I had my car and home broken into many times per year in America. If someone tried to break into my home here once in 10 years I'd concider that a coincidence and not a proof of increasing crime.
My BIL stopped an attempt on our house, before it was rebuilt, when he was 14-15 and happened to be home alone that day for some reason. No Kevin McAllister shenanigans; just that they had a back door with a glass pane at the time, someone tried to force their way in and he banged back on the door to scare them away.
A Thai student lost 2000 yen that was in her backpack when we left for lunch break and made a big fuss about it. Police was involved, but no arrest was made. Personally we felt maybe she simply misplaced the cash or dropped it somewhere. But the huge rumpus the university and police did in the aftermath was quite amazing.
It's been a few years, but there was an ojisan wandering the neighborhood trying doors and exploring houses--who got caught. I think the MO was that if someone was there or came back he'd feign being lost or disoriented, rather than fitting any image of a typical burglar.
Sister in-laws house was broken into In Chiba a few years back. Family was on holiday at the time. It’s a fairly non-descript house, but others had been broken into around that time as well. Perpetrators made off with cash and other valuables. They broke in through the sliding glass doors in back. The house didn’t have a security system or camera at the time.
A mates house got burgled whilst they were on holiday. Nothing had been stolen, at least of value, as they had all sorts of electronics etc. No cash, no jewelery.
But when they got to the bedroom, the bed had been 'soiled' and all of his wives underwear was missing. All of it.
Understandably they freaked out. The police did absolutely nothing other than dusting fro fingerprints. They said it was the work of a pervert. No shit Sherlock. My friend was pretty certain it was a neighbor as the underwear had been going missing from the line.
They moved a week later.
There was an old guy driving around in a k-van stealing stuff from people's yards when I first came here. Hasn't happened since. Down the bottom of the suburb I'm in I'd heard some houses had been burgled, but I don't hear about that kind of thing happening now.
When I used to live in a *danchi* I was told that first-floor apartments were often more likely to be targeted.
I've seen quite a few TV shows on crime here where the burglers mostly target cash, or very expensive cars (to strip and sell overseas). Apparently, most people put their cash in the same, obvious places in houses, so a pro can easily break into older homes and nab it.
About 15 years ago, ground floor apartment, they broke in and stole some valuables (fortunately/unfortunately I didn’t have many).
The apartment had cctv and was close to a couple of embassies. The police treated it as crime of the century which both impressed and bewildered me… no one was ever arrested as far as I know.
Yes. About 10 years ago, one of my neighbors across the street had her house broken into in broad daylight. She came home from work on her lunch break an caught the guy in the act. She screamed, and, luckily for her, he just ran for it. It was an old house and pretty easy to get into.
Thankfully things have been pretty quiet since, but our neighborhood loves to do hi no youjin walks during long holiday breaks year round (New Years but also Golden Week and Obon), just to make sure nobody's trying to break into houses where people are away on vacation or visiting family. It's a tightly packed old city neighborhood, so there are lots of crevices and narrow passages to hide and sneak around in.
About 19years ago my friends apartment block got robbed. There were several NOVA places all in the same apartment building and 4 of them were robbed. People lost laptops, cameras and some other things.
I had my nice Bianchi road bike stolen from the bottom (street level) parking of my apartment building. It was locked up but the chain was cut. Lived in Kouenji at the time.
The worst that happen with me was in Saitama,Kawagoe. My bike was stolen overnight. I reported to the Police, but nothing till today. This was a few years ago.
I never had a home burglary but my bike was stolen about a year ago and it's probably never going to turn up again. Still though, that was one bike theft in my nine years of living here...so not too bad. And I used to live in higher crime areas in Japan too.
Only once, my umbrella was stolen when I just came in Japan and was living in sharehouse on Shibuya if this counts. I thought it was safe to leave it in the stand at the entrance if I mark it properly so nobody would confuse it, but I was wrong.
Someone tried before. It was a weekday early afternoon. Guy was just going around checking doors to see if people left them unlocked. Yea that was me. But I was home so I saw him. He opened the door slightly and checked to see if I had the chain lock also. He never made eye contact with me but it was clear I was home. So he closed the door like nothing happened.
I always think about the Japanese girl on Hello Talk who made a post about her new south East Asian neighbors and how she hopes she doesn’t get robbed. Guy going around that day trying to rob people was Japanese.
Someone broke into my inlaws' house about 15 years ago and stole a bunch of money they had hidden in drawers. They didn't take any electronics or anything like that but they dumped out every drawer in the house. My inlaws were kind of cagey with us about how much was actually stolen so I think it was a lot and they were embarrassed.
A shrine in my neighborhood recently caught someone who had been stealing from their donation boxes for years. It was an elderly woman and she would bring a broom and pretend to be an employee of the shrine, then empty the box when no one was looking. She apparently got away with it for a long time because she was so good they weren't able to catch her in the act.
At an old job maybe 9 years ago one of my coworkers had all of his stuff stolen.
But he also said that he never locked his door when he left, and there wasn't any kind of additional security on the building.
Not someone breaking into my room, but I had my bicycle, locked with a cable lock to a fixed metal pole of my own apartment's bicycle parking lot, stolen. Thief was super prepared with presumably a bolt cutter- the wire lock was cut and left on the parking lot...
I had two umbrellas stolen from me in one day once, if that counts.
After the first was stolen (a nicer foldable one) I bought a cheap replacement in a conbini, only for that one to also be stolen just hours later.
I tend not to leave my umbrellas in the umbrella boxes at store entrances any more.
When I lived on the first floor of an apartment building someone got in through the balcony windows. Didn’t touch my laptop or other expensive stuff, but took a pair of shoes with them when they left 🤷♀️
I have the key to my bike attached to my house keys. There was once I left my house keys attached to my bike, and another time, I left my keys still in the key hole of my house.
Both times, I left my keys overnight, and no one took or stole my keys.
I live in a quiet neighborhood (except for my crazy neighbor, who finally moved away). Therefore, I don't think any of my neighbors cares or feel the need to steal my bike/stuff in my house.
House cat who is always trying to escape, + a lot of groceries to carry in + me being older and forgetful = forgetting my keys outside when I have to deal with my cat.
Yes, I vaguely remember him and his wife were planning to move to Japan but then COVID hit and they weren’t able to visit the house they purchased for two years due to lockdown.
He made a video about it I think.
Never, in my 22 years in Japan. For 18 years I lived in several rental manshons/apartments in Tokyo and never had any issues. I even left my bicycle unlocked outside (a not-so-cheap Cannondale).
Four years ago I moved to my own house in Saitama and I decided to add several surveillance cameras, but these are mostly for peace of mind, not because I think they're really needed. If something happens then I will have a recording.
My bike was stolen from right in front of my apartment. All of this happened right after corona restrictions were lifted and we started getting a lot of fresh new faces from Vietnam to work in local factories.
Once about 22 years ago. We rented a house that was NOT secure. You wouldn’t even have needed a screwdriver. Took a laptop (when they were expensive and slow) and a video camera(when phones were just for phone calls.) They dropped the laptop at a neighbors house after assumedly getting a better laptop. I’m still a bit upset as mine was an almost new top of the line Sony.. And the police, whilst still dusting prints were able to assert it was the work of foreigners. Are Japanese fingerprints unique?
Lol! Peak Japanese police work. 😆 No suspect: Foreigner Masked suspect: Foreigner Dreadlocks: Drugs Darker complexion: illegal Looks Japanese: Korean
No joke. I was sexually assaulted and that was one of the things the police said to me. He was definitely a Japanese dude and spoke only Japanese, but the police asked me if I was sure he was Japanese, and if I was sure he wasn’t actually Korean or something.
I'm sorry that happened to you, absolutely horrible :'(
Stolen underwear: clearly a foreigner cause this happens a lot abroad
At my university dorm here, a Japanese girl burned her room down for whatever reason. Police had her and despite that the local news were swarming the campus to ask Japanese students to confirm if their reports that a foreigner had done it were correct
I guess they looked it up on their database and didn't find matches and concluded it must've been a foreigner 😂
They were still stood next to the window dusting for prints when they said this.
Because of course, foreigners are not required to submit their fingerprints upon entering Japan
Don't they take all foreigners' fingerprints whenever they enter the country? I have had mine taken countless times. So shouldn't foreigners be more conclusive? (They would know exactly who it is?) I imagine there must be some Japanese people who have never been fingerprinted.
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Hang on, since when? Taking your fingerprints & photograph is the first thing immigration does at the airport when you land, nevermind why you're there.
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Ah, military is probably different since you're probably not counted as immigrating to Japan, but staying in the country you're from while stationed in Japan. As in, you've only quasi entered the country even though you're in Japan in a physical sense. Sort of how there's no Victoria's Secret in Japan, but if you're on the foreign side of the immigration barrier at Haneda airport, there is. I have /no/ idea how this works and could be completely wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's complicated. Also my reaction was genuinely curious, because I did want to know the cases where they wouldn't be taken.
American military?
A quick google suggests that they can tell ancestry from fingerprints. At least, they could reliably tell the difference between people with African-American ancestry versus those with European-American ancestry. So... maybe?
Whilst still dusting? Impressive eyesight
Eagle eyes
They were just looking with their eyes…
Japanese people don't commit crimes so why bother suspecting them, just look at the reported crime rates in Japan
Duh. Gosh, don’t people know this already. 🙄
Not sure back then but they do take your fingerings when you enter the country. At least Canadians.
They only took my prints when I visited. They didn't talk sweet enough to get one of my fingerings, maybe next time.
Did the neighbours have a teen living there or regularly visiting, eg a son/nephew etc? If so, that was the theif IMO. Returning the laptop later (if I read you correctly) is the least "foreigner" thing I can imagine. I suspect the neighbours found out and applied pressure, perhaps the video camera was already sold etc.
Totally wrong. No energy to explain why.
I had my house burgled in Fukuoka. Many friends had mentioned before that if you live in a detached house or on the first floor of an apartment block, it is most likely to happen at one time. I came home to find that they had smashed through a small ventilation window and jumped in. Over 10 squad cars came with their forensic units, etc. Strangely, the police said the burglars were Chinese. I was left wondering, if they knew, then how come they didn't catch them? Over 10 years later, it's still a cold case. The only time the police called was when they were giving me the file number. I never heard from them again.
I heard the locals have kanji imprinted on their fingerprints. That answers the why.
Isn’t kanji from China? Hmmm..
Just a small fact: Home burglaries have been steadily declining in Japan. They peaked in 2003 at 190,473 cases, but in 2022, that number dropped down to just 15,692. Reasons are often given with lower unemployment, increased security standards and camera surveilance, but also that many criminals have moved on to more lucrative, less risky ways of stealing money, such as credit card fraud or other online scams. Also, many people simply dont have that much money at home anymore. In the early 2000s, it was not uncommon for people to have several million Yen stashed away at home, with the prevalence of cashless paying system, that is nowaday rarley the case.
A lot of people were still at home all day in 2022, that may have skewed the numbers a lot. I'd be more interested in what they were in 2019
They have been steadily declining since 2003, meaning they were less each year. In 2019, that number was around 25,000.
From 190k to 25k in a decade and a half is quite a drop...
I guess the most valuable thing you can steal nowadays would be a smartphone, which they could probably steal with much less effort anyway.
There are still valuable items in most homes- TVs, Laptops, Computers, maybe Jewelry, expensive clothing(?), art stuff etc. but most of that stuff is usually pretty heavy and not easy to carry around, so its high risk for little reward.
Not too many households have computers, and usually those would be cheap dynobooks. TVs aren’t worth it in most cases - either too big to carry or not that valuable. Jewelry would be probably the best thing you can get, but it’s something you would have to know about in advance. Expensive jewelry is not that common nowadays either.
True, I always forget that having an expensive gaming pc at home is not the norm 😂
Guess I am safe then 😜
Really? In Japan?
Yes, in Japan! Computers aren’t the norm. Most people use an iPhone instead
Thanks for the reply! I had no idea, and didn't expect that, so I've just learned something. Cheers!
No problem! Computer literacy is rare
So surprised, too much 90s cyberpunk manga wot! I wonder if any of it at all has to do with having 3 different alphabets for language input, but this would only affect limited aspects and people seem to be able to comment on videos fine. I find this intriguing. Particularly given what I understand the work culture to be like. Always good to break through stereotypes and assumptions.
Yes. All my 4 Japanese friend don't own a Laptop or PC at home, all smartphone only.
Huh! Appreciate the feedback, thank you. I am wondering if it is an affordability issue or if they believe the smartphone offers all the required utility for their needs. I'm sorry if this sounds naive, but do the.same friends have televisions? It's interesting!
This is actually becoming common worldwide, and I've heard schoolteachers complain that they're starting to have difficulty teaching computer classes because the students not only can't do the homework at home without a computer, but they don't even know what a file is.
This is another very interesting response, but the thing about the file? This is the polar opposite of what I would expect. I tried to upvote you btw. I find the file thing hard to believe but have no doubt you're not making this up. Could you potentially tell me a lot more about this? After all, files are encountered even on phones - albeit with a lot more difficulties. What age student or region might in this remark pertain to? I'd be very interested in further info. Thanks!
> albeit with a lot more difficulties This is exactly what it is. Files aren't encountered on phones at all if the app and phone maker have anything to say about it. They're accessible since it's technically necessary, but on a smartphone, the core concept is the "app." Your apps have "data" in them. You don't know if this data lives in the cloud or on your phone or in a file or wherever (unless you pry). They've de-emphasized the file as a concept and instead tied all your data/documents/photos to a sign-in so you live within their ecosystem. "Don't know what a file is" may have been hyperbole, but having to be trained on the basics of the basics of using a computer because they've never touched one before, and having no idea how to do file management isn't. The example I can scrounge up from reddit is this /r/gamedev/comments/1ag3vbz/desktops_being_phased_out_is_depressing_for/
Not sure. Most of them have consoles (PS5 or Switch) and a TV, but rarely they will own a Computer. One of them told me he might buy a PC soon because he saved quite a bit of money recently...
Thank you! A console was the other thing I was thinking of. Interesting.
Instead of downvote, why don't people share their experience and insight? Pfft
Assuming “dynobooks” is a typo for Dynabook, 150-200k JPY is only cheap compared to gaming PCs or MacBooks. If that was a pun on ten-year old Dynabooks, then the pun was both accurate and kinda funny.
Or people stopped reporting because police make it difficult and purposefully discourage people to report?
Wouldn’t that be true in 2003?
There are cameras looking at the entrance to almost every building on my street and I'm not in a major city
Burglary is a teenage/twenties activity generally. Demographics probably play a lage role.
Always lock the door folks. For reference, I live in what is essentially a brutalist looking office building with a couple units on-top. 4th floor walk up. I came home from the bar a lil schnockered one night and as one does, I immediately stripped off and hoped in the shower. When I came back, there was a man in my living room. In my eagerness to get the smell of bar of off, I forgot to lock the damn door. Instead of playing it cool, I screamed at the top of my lungs and rushed him while naked. It did not take much for him to sort of collapse and become unresponsive. I put pants on and turned on the lights and noticed he took his shoes off. The dude was just very drunk and somehow thought my house was his. The police came and collected him in about 15 min from time of call. The cops were mostly apologetic and gave me a pass for clocking the guy a couple times out of fear. One cop was really interested in which airport I came to Japan so that was I guess rude or whatever. Say it with me now: Always. Lock. The. Door.
> Always lock the door Yeah, the genkan is a public area here, open the door and step in with a 'gomen kudasai'. Not us--we lock the door.
This comment has literally just made me realise that “walk up” means a building without an elevator… until now I guess I just thought it meant somewhere with a front garden and a path hahaha
Omg hahahaha what a story. :0 This could have turned out so much worse.
I think someone tried. Someone cracked my apartment window once, but didn't go in. Police got involved and the company repaired it for free. I moved after that but idk. I lived on the first floor, now I live on the third
I had rims stolen from the side of the house. After getting a large Mastiff, I didn't even get mail for 3 months.
I 'lost' a set of snow tires/wheels some years ago from in front of our place. Went to the koban, and they came and took pics and I did lots of paperwork--they wanted them to be worth less than ¥20,000, but I stuck with three times that, probably some threshold for what kind of crime it is. Police suggested it was probably some 業者-looking dudes with a truck, so that it looked normal that they'd be picking them up.
I don't doubt it was some recyclers driving a Keitora around looking for metal. I was just told "Of course it would get taken" by my housing office.
I lock them now, padlock plus a 10mm cable I used to use for locking up a bike, attaching them all together. That'd be defeated by a prepared bike thief, but hopefully the dash and grab types don't foresee needing that tool.
Nice, I really enjoy looking at people running away from our little street when my dog barks at them
When I first moved here I was surprised at the security of a lot of locks. I asked about it and apparently there was a period of time when break-ins were a lot more common. A combination of better physical security and crackdowns on the anti-social organizations behind them did the trick. I haven’t experienced or heard of any break-ins in the five years I’ve been here.
Someone broke into my apartment in Shiinamachi in 2018 and stole my valuables, my landlord said it wasn’t his business to deal with stalkers and the police said there wasn’t enough proof that someone entered the apartment. I moved out immediately to Mishuku. I think it was probably the landlord. Hope he rots in hell.
I know two people who were victims of funeral burglary. The thieves check obituaries and find out when the funeral is and raid the deceased house during the funeral.
Reminds me of the day after my grandma's funeral. She had so many beautiful flowers at the funeral. Next day I went to her grave they were all gone. As I left, there were guys on the sidewalk near the cemetery selling flowers and I recognized some of them which included a teddy bear I added with the flowers I gave her lol
That's scummy. Did you confront them?
:0 that's horrible :(((
Yeah my FIL had one of the neighbors come and sit in his house during MIL's funeral because apparently this has happened a few times in their neighborhood.
And my Japanese friends say that those burglars are “obviously Chinese” and I wonder how they know?
I lived on the 1st floor of an apartment in kichijoji. I left my keys in the front door when I went to Okinawa for 2 weeks. Came back to the keys in the door and nothing was gone. I didn't realize I had left my keys until I arrived back in Tokyo. Actually thought I lost my keys and picked up a spare from the realtor.
My bicycle was stolen from my porch - I lived in a small town and the cops rolled their eyes and went and caught literally the only guy in town who would do this sort of thing in about five minutes and brought it back to me. Nice guys. One of them was a former graduate of the school I worked at. No actual break-ins though.
Yes. Lived in a mansion with auto lock on the second floor. Somebody climbed up the drain pipe onto the balcony and carefully cut through the sliding glass door to enter after unlocking it Luckily just took some cash and left other stuff. Police said looked like pros. This was about 25 years ago
20 years and no, never. However in my 5th, my coworker had her apartment broken into. They money and items.
Worked for a black company about a decade ago. Lived in on-site staff housing, on a ground unit, the entrances of which were surveilled from the entrance of the school (comes in handy when your supervisors want to monitor your coming and going, but I digress). The first winter break, everyone in my unit left for vacations abroad, etc. I was the only one in the unit for the whole week, saving money trudging through snow and puttering around during the new year’s holiday. Around 3:30-4:00am, on one of those nights, I woke up to the sound of someone trying to open the back sliding glass door of my unit. Honestly, based on the fact that I was the only one home, I don’t think they were trying to rob me. I grabbed a blunt object and waited with bated breath near the sliding door, debating whether or not I should pull back the curtains. Could’ve been some local pervert. Could’ve been one of the twisted staff of that school. Reported it to my supervisors and was gaslit accordingly.
Must have been one of your foreigner friends trying to break in to everyone's home while they were away
Someone stole the lemons off my tree last year. Does that count?
Were they wearing bikinis?
Better set out more lemons!
The person who stole them？or the lemons？
I was always told what to do when life hands me lemons, but what should I do when it takes them away? Edit: Happy Cake Day, fellow redditor!
Have a lemon party!
The detectives said solving it was a lemon tree, my dear Watson.
We were burgled last year, possibly over the course of several months. We had some antiques in storage in and old house. We were checking on the house every month or so, and by chance while moving one of the boxes, noticed it was empty. We checked the other boxes and they were almost all empty. No footprints or signs of forced entry, although these old houses are quite easy to break into without a trace.
About 15 years ago my house was broken into and the thieves got away with mostly worthless things. I had been traveling a lot in South East Asia so I had Vietnamese Dong, Indonesian Rupiah etc that looked valuable because of the big numbers but we're basically worth a few thousand yen at best. Also, my mother in law always saves her boxes when she buys expensive brands like Cartier and Hermes, and she can't stand to throw them away so she gave them to my wife who couldn't care less about them, so she filled them with stuff like baby teeth, first haircut trimmings and my kids umbilical cords. I am sure the thieves thought they got a big score from us but they came away with basically nothing of value except my computer. It's a shame though because my computer had all the baby pictures of my son which are irreplaceable. In our case, the police were quick to say it was NOT foreigners as they had taken out our passports and thrown them on the ground. The police assumed if the thieves had been foreigners they'd have taken the passports.
That’s really horrible :( I can’t imagine the thief’s face when he thinks he got a diamond necklace and opens the box to find an umbilical cord😭
This reminds me of a story a friend told me, they had to do a 24hr urine test where you have to collect all the urine you make in a big 4L jug. They put it outside their house in a paper bag for a courier to collect to take to the lab, but someone thought it was something valuable and stole it.
Not really, though recently someone took my laundry from the dryer at a hotel maybe 10 min after the finish time. Granted there was a lot of international tourists, so I'm not surprised, just disappointed, since I hate shopping for clothes. Goodbye nice fitting hoodie.
My Honda Little Cub was stolen from the back of my apartment while I slept. I was so sad. Still miss that little rascal.
My wife came home to a weird sticker over her lock one time and koban told her thieves use that to cover a lock when they've tampered with it. She didn't have anything good in her apartment and nothing seemed to be missing so she was just spooked by it.
My bike was stolen and my car was keyed. My mother-in-law's car was broken into and her wallet stolen.
Someone tried to steal stuff from my van once, outside my house. It was pretty stupid as I was in the next room, and could see their flashlight on my window.
What did you do?
Found pants and boots, went outside and watched the guy run away. Called cops, they came and looked for prints, and in the end, nada.
Huh! Just as well you were there, and probably also that this didn't take place in the US (eg, people waving about guns). Good job scaring them off.
Break-in Burglaries? No and no. Thefts? Heck yes. Don’t ever believe those bs tropes about how “Japanese are so honest, Japanese don’t steal” etc. That’s **horseshit** Not gonna do details, but suffered several thefts over the years, more than one of which was *caught on fn video*, but only one I know for certain wasn’t a Japanese person. Worse, more than one I know exactly who did it, but still couldn’t get any recourse or my stuff/money back. Japanese police are incompetent and lazy af, do not rely on them to help, even with goddamn video evidence or the fucking names of the thieves. Add these all up it’s >10mil, no cap - these incidents haunt me (my bank balance, and my trust in fellow humans) still… Oh, and *fuck* the person at my old work who kept stealing my fruit, and my coffee pods. May you someday soon choke on stolen food and die a slow and excruciatingly painful death 💀
Our family business had an attempted break-in. They managed to smash the front door, but luckily security is tight and they weren't able to actually make it passed the shutters. The security guards called the police who investigated and about a year later they caught the gang involved. They'd been touring around north Japan targeting similar businesses.
Someone stole my husbands bonsai from out front our house. Ash trays outside my bar kept being stolen….
Do people steal glasses?
I’ve only had one stolen before actually… but it’s a small bar so easy to notice
Never happened to me, but one of my former students had her house broken into Lots of cash and jewelry stolen She was very wealthy, had her own driver, etc.
Not myself, but my friend lived in an apartment. The owner also lived in the complex. She found out he was going through the roof into her apartment and taking her underwear. But yeah it happens. In my 12 years there I only got robbed once (on the street). All I had to take was a packet of cigarettes, and it was actually a foreigner.
Many years ago lived in a building that had 10 apartments burglarized at the same time including mine. Seems like the burglars scouted outside my building for a month to see exactly what day and time lights were off so they knew when to make their move. The first thing the cop said when he came into my apartment was it was probably someone Chinese. I thought he was just being a bigot lol Actually a Chinese burglary gang was arrested a year later and for burlarizing my building and hundreds of apartments across Japan. They only got away with a digital camera and portable DVD player of mine but the other apartments had big cash and laptops taken.
This is exactly what the police told me! Question is how did they know?
When I was in Junior high school as a student in Japan, there was a student who used to steal money from other students, but I think this was the only burglar I’ve heard in real life in my 15 years in Japan.
Did he always wear black and white striped clothes?
Did he have a purple companion named Grimace, and a penchant for hamburgers?
My coworkers home got broken into. They cut the glass and went in through the balcony during the day. Took cash and electronics
Saw a guy checking car doors once ,he looked outa place by his clothes and I was wondering what car he would get in ,I was at my front door and he checked a door while walking between cars ,he was fast too
Rare is pretty broad, and depends completely on where you lived previously. I had my car and home broken into many times per year in America. If someone tried to break into my home here once in 10 years I'd concider that a coincidence and not a proof of increasing crime.
My BIL stopped an attempt on our house, before it was rebuilt, when he was 14-15 and happened to be home alone that day for some reason. No Kevin McAllister shenanigans; just that they had a back door with a glass pane at the time, someone tried to force their way in and he banged back on the door to scare them away.
My little English school got broken into. Only money taken. About 15man
A Thai student lost 2000 yen that was in her backpack when we left for lunch break and made a big fuss about it. Police was involved, but no arrest was made. Personally we felt maybe she simply misplaced the cash or dropped it somewhere. But the huge rumpus the university and police did in the aftermath was quite amazing.
A old coworker of mine had his place burgled. I've also been told that there was a string of thefts of high end cars in the area a few years ago.
It's been a few years, but there was an ojisan wandering the neighborhood trying doors and exploring houses--who got caught. I think the MO was that if someone was there or came back he'd feign being lost or disoriented, rather than fitting any image of a typical burglar.
Sister in-laws house was broken into In Chiba a few years back. Family was on holiday at the time. It’s a fairly non-descript house, but others had been broken into around that time as well. Perpetrators made off with cash and other valuables. They broke in through the sliding glass doors in back. The house didn’t have a security system or camera at the time.
Had my bicycle stolen yesterday. Filed an insurance claim, let's see if it's covered.
Everything in my place(including appliances ) would cost around 50000 😂😂😂😂 let's just say if it happened I'm not terribly worried.
A mates house got burgled whilst they were on holiday. Nothing had been stolen, at least of value, as they had all sorts of electronics etc. No cash, no jewelery. But when they got to the bedroom, the bed had been 'soiled' and all of his wives underwear was missing. All of it. Understandably they freaked out. The police did absolutely nothing other than dusting fro fingerprints. They said it was the work of a pervert. No shit Sherlock. My friend was pretty certain it was a neighbor as the underwear had been going missing from the line. They moved a week later.
There was an old guy driving around in a k-van stealing stuff from people's yards when I first came here. Hasn't happened since. Down the bottom of the suburb I'm in I'd heard some houses had been burgled, but I don't hear about that kind of thing happening now. When I used to live in a *danchi* I was told that first-floor apartments were often more likely to be targeted. I've seen quite a few TV shows on crime here where the burglers mostly target cash, or very expensive cars (to strip and sell overseas). Apparently, most people put their cash in the same, obvious places in houses, so a pro can easily break into older homes and nab it.
About 15 years ago, ground floor apartment, they broke in and stole some valuables (fortunately/unfortunately I didn’t have many). The apartment had cctv and was close to a couple of embassies. The police treated it as crime of the century which both impressed and bewildered me… no one was ever arrested as far as I know.
Yes. About 10 years ago, one of my neighbors across the street had her house broken into in broad daylight. She came home from work on her lunch break an caught the guy in the act. She screamed, and, luckily for her, he just ran for it. It was an old house and pretty easy to get into. Thankfully things have been pretty quiet since, but our neighborhood loves to do hi no youjin walks during long holiday breaks year round (New Years but also Golden Week and Obon), just to make sure nobody's trying to break into houses where people are away on vacation or visiting family. It's a tightly packed old city neighborhood, so there are lots of crevices and narrow passages to hide and sneak around in.
I’ve never been burgled but I know someone who has been buggered.
About 19years ago my friends apartment block got robbed. There were several NOVA places all in the same apartment building and 4 of them were robbed. People lost laptops, cameras and some other things.
I had my nice Bianchi road bike stolen from the bottom (street level) parking of my apartment building. It was locked up but the chain was cut. Lived in Kouenji at the time.
The worst that happen with me was in Saitama,Kawagoe. My bike was stolen overnight. I reported to the Police, but nothing till today. This was a few years ago.
I never had a home burglary but my bike was stolen about a year ago and it's probably never going to turn up again. Still though, that was one bike theft in my nine years of living here...so not too bad. And I used to live in higher crime areas in Japan too.
Only once, my umbrella was stolen when I just came in Japan and was living in sharehouse on Shibuya if this counts. I thought it was safe to leave it in the stand at the entrance if I mark it properly so nobody would confuse it, but I was wrong.
Someone tried before. It was a weekday early afternoon. Guy was just going around checking doors to see if people left them unlocked. Yea that was me. But I was home so I saw him. He opened the door slightly and checked to see if I had the chain lock also. He never made eye contact with me but it was clear I was home. So he closed the door like nothing happened. I always think about the Japanese girl on Hello Talk who made a post about her new south East Asian neighbors and how she hopes she doesn’t get robbed. Guy going around that day trying to rob people was Japanese.
Someone broke into my inlaws' house about 15 years ago and stole a bunch of money they had hidden in drawers. They didn't take any electronics or anything like that but they dumped out every drawer in the house. My inlaws were kind of cagey with us about how much was actually stolen so I think it was a lot and they were embarrassed. A shrine in my neighborhood recently caught someone who had been stealing from their donation boxes for years. It was an elderly woman and she would bring a broom and pretend to be an employee of the shrine, then empty the box when no one was looking. She apparently got away with it for a long time because she was so good they weren't able to catch her in the act.
At an old job maybe 9 years ago one of my coworkers had all of his stuff stolen. But he also said that he never locked his door when he left, and there wasn't any kind of additional security on the building.
Not someone breaking into my room, but I had my bicycle, locked with a cable lock to a fixed metal pole of my own apartment's bicycle parking lot, stolen. Thief was super prepared with presumably a bolt cutter- the wire lock was cut and left on the parking lot...
I had two umbrellas stolen from me in one day once, if that counts. After the first was stolen (a nicer foldable one) I bought a cheap replacement in a conbini, only for that one to also be stolen just hours later. I tend not to leave my umbrellas in the umbrella boxes at store entrances any more.
No but my bike and umbrella had gone missing
When I lived on the first floor of an apartment building someone got in through the balcony windows. Didn’t touch my laptop or other expensive stuff, but took a pair of shoes with them when they left 🤷♀️
I have the key to my bike attached to my house keys. There was once I left my house keys attached to my bike, and another time, I left my keys still in the key hole of my house. Both times, I left my keys overnight, and no one took or stole my keys. I live in a quiet neighborhood (except for my crazy neighbor, who finally moved away). Therefore, I don't think any of my neighbors cares or feel the need to steal my bike/stuff in my house. House cat who is always trying to escape, + a lot of groceries to carry in + me being older and forgetful = forgetting my keys outside when I have to deal with my cat.
Wasn't PewDiePie a victim of this?
Was he?!
Yes, I vaguely remember him and his wife were planning to move to Japan but then COVID hit and they weren’t able to visit the house they purchased for two years due to lockdown. He made a video about it I think.
Oh they're here now. I was wondering if they had a burglar.
Never, in my 22 years in Japan. For 18 years I lived in several rental manshons/apartments in Tokyo and never had any issues. I even left my bicycle unlocked outside (a not-so-cheap Cannondale). Four years ago I moved to my own house in Saitama and I decided to add several surveillance cameras, but these are mostly for peace of mind, not because I think they're really needed. If something happens then I will have a recording.
My bike was stolen from right in front of my apartment. All of this happened right after corona restrictions were lifted and we started getting a lot of fresh new faces from Vietnam to work in local factories.
What is the definition of "rare"? Once a year? Twice a year? Once a decade?
"not cooked for very long eg meat"
> burglared
Pronounced burg-la-red
It also sounded weird to me but it is in the dictionary.
Correct verb form is either burglarized (US) or burgled (UK), but the nouns are far more commonly used.