But he was probably happy that the thieves didn`t have guns. With lower grade technolgy, he had more of a chance against them.

The newspaper has no problem with calling the robber a thug but then they pixelate his photo. Makes no sense to me.

"Convenience store clerk" is supposed to be the most dangerous job one can have.

In the US, it's corporate policy to fire employees found with any kind of weapon. That's why it's dangerous. The clerks are unarmed and the crooks know it.

GB, there are no simple answers to this. Particular individuals MIGHT be safer if they could carry guns, but society as a whole might be less if guns are widespread and if there is greater reliance on police for the protection of public safety. Somewhat similar to the case where society as a whole may be better off where there are widespread immunizations, but it is more advantageous to particular individuals not to opt out (while still benefitting from the fact that others are immunized).

Even though countries are different, Japan is a much safer country than the US. And where central order has collapsed and people left almost entirely to their own devices (including banding into militias) like Iraq, what happens to public safety?

What underlies this is the problem of insufficient public safety, which in increases the incentives for individuals to get guns. In my view the "war on drugs" has failed miserably, increased disorder, and heightened our risks, including risks from the cops themselves.

Papa: Japan's crime statistics are often highly misleading, as they are generally not based on convictions or even on arrests, but on crime ``reports.''

If a policeman stops you and says: Is that your bike? And you say, yes, but he doubts it, then takes you and writes a report on the investigation, that is counted as a "crime."

This is typically one of several ways "foreigner" crime stats are inflated in Japan. If a convini gets held up and the clerk says he thinks the robbers were foreigners, that's counted as a crime committed by a foreigner, at least in terms of what's reported in the Japanese newspapers.

Who knows what sort of inflation the U.S. figure might be subject to, though I would guess that, rather, it would be a bit deflated, if anything, since so many crimes go unreported.

Rather amazing that, even given that, crime per capita in gun-ridden U.S. is more than twice that in virtually unarmed Japan.

Comparing arrests in the U.S. with those in Japan is also problematic. U.S. cops make arrests with the slimmest evidence, knowing that the arrestee will have a fair day in court. Once a decision is made to book a suspect, they then face prosecution and trial under a presumption of innocence.

Japanese cops may question a suspect and even detain them for long periods, but generally do not arrest them until evidence virtually assuring conviction has been gathered. (I don't know, but I strongly suspect this rule of thumb is different for foreigners, atarimae.)

Part of the idea, apparently, is that there is little or no de facto presumption of innocence--an arrest is tantamount to a conviction in the eyes of the media and public, so the cops better get it right before slapping the cuffs on.

I recall the case of Joji Obara, accused of sawing off a hostesses head after drugging and raping her. Police arrived at his apartment to find cement on his hands, on the carpet and elsewhere in his apartment, along with an electric saw. It was until well after the woman's head (encased in cement) and body were found, separately, in a cave near Obara's condo that he was arrested.

Apparently, the guy is still on trial, amid rumors his wealthy family and gangster connections have helped delay justice.

papa, to truely grasp the meaning of the statistics don't the actual populations have to known along with rather than just with per capita figures?

KyotoDragon, yes, though the per capita figures are my own calculation based on the crime reporting statistics I cited in my original comment and population figures found here.

Major Bristols, my experience of fifteen years in Japan has been similar to yours regarding safety, but I also have to say that my previous twenty-eight years in the United States were equally safe. "Extremely safe" is in the eye of the beholder, and personally I don't consider an oft-repeated stereotype to be "obvious" or a "fact". It sounds to me like you're trying to sell something.

I think we're dealing to some extent in stereotypes here, where crime in America is focused on and exaggerated because it fits the image of America as a dangerous place, whereas crime in Japan is overlooked and minimized because "everyone knows" Japan is a safe country. The fact is, violent crime is, per capita, a pretty rare event in most developed, stable nations. I lived most of the first three decades of my life in America and was never robbed or otherwise attacked. Sure, you are much more likely to be a crime victim in certain parts of America than in others, but you could say the same thing about Japan, too. I had my pocket picked in Roppongi a few years ago; never happened to me in the States.

I don't deny that Japan, on average, is safer than America in terms of violent crime (although I think the difference is often exaggerated due to outdated stereotypes). But there are many reasons why this is so, and I suspect the right to own guns, by itself, is not one of them.

The question, as I have repeated noted, is not whether America with gun rights is safer than Japan without gun rights. It's whether America with gun rights is safer than America without gun rights. And I don't believe Americans would be safer if only the bad guys had guns, and knew their victims did not.

Papa: I'm missing your point entirely. Your numbers prove what I said. I'm not overplaying anything here.

This is an old snapshot, but we do need to compare apples and oranges.

Unfortunately, it's because the US is much less safer than most Western nations that people are so reluctant to give up their guns - a reluctance that I completely understand.

But I think that it's fair to say that the relatively easy availability of hand guns in the US exacerbates the lack of security that many feel and that motivates their gun possession.