iNJAPAN

I’ve mentioned earlier in my ‘Vending Machines of Japan‘ post that everything is up to the honor system in Japan.

This story is a story that clearly illustrates that point. It is so incredibly Japanese.

KOFU — A man has scattered dozens of 10,000-yen notes from pedestrian overpasses here, police said.
At about 3:20 p.m. on Friday, a passer-by spotted a man scattering 10,000-yen notes from a pedestrian overpass along a prefectural highway in the Marunouchi district of Kofu, and alerted police. Another passer-by picked up 10 of the bills, and submitted them to a local police station.

At about 4 p.m., 35 10,000-yen bills were scattered from a pedestrian overpass over Route 358, about 600 meters away from Marunouchi. Investigators said the same man may have been responsible for both cases.

Source: Mainichi

Only in Japan, ONLY in Japan would this kind of thing happen. You know what I’m talking about.

Passerby 1: Hey, look…that guy is dumping money out onto the street!
Passerby 2: Wow, he sure is!
Passerby 1: Well, that’s not right…I’ll call the police.
Passerby 2: I’ve picked up about $1000, I’ll go turn it in.

And this was only the first story. They found loads of money dumped in all sorts of places around Japan. And everyone’s been turning it in! Who is doing this? Why doesn’t he come to Austin? If I found some of these bundles of cash…shit, I wouldn’t be here writing this now. I’d be buying a first class ticket to Tokyo for a shopping trip.

I honestly can’t believe they just turned it in.
But that’s Japan for you.

Here’s another story.

MIYOSHI, Aichi — A man who had just been released from prison has been arrested for strangling the wife of an acquaintance after she refused to allow him to stay at her home, police said.
Haruyoshi Arai, 58, is accused of murdering the victim, believed to be 77-year-old Ayako Uchida, at her apartment in Miyoshi.

Arai admitted to the allegations during questioning. “I was just released from jail and had no place to stay. I asked Uchida, the wife of a deceased acquaintance, to allow me to stay at her home. After she rejected my request, I got furious and killed her,” he was quoted as telling investigators.

At about 9:10 p.m. on Thursday, prefectural police received an emergency call from Arai, saying that he killed a woman at her apartment. Officers rushed to the scene and found the woman lying on the floor. She was rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead about two hours later.

The officers took Arai into custody after he admitted having strangled her.

Source: Mainichi

Again, I love the Japanese honesty here. “Hello, 911? You guys need to come down here and arrest me, I just killed a person.” I used to wonder why there weren’t any good cop shows or legal-based court shows in Japan like CSI, Rescue 911, or Court TV, but I realize now it’s because that shit would be boring as hell.

Cops: (arrive on scene) What’s going on here?
Man: You’ll notice the body of my dead wife there on the floor. I killed her a few minutes ago.
Cops: Sir, is this true?
Man: Why yes, it is. She didn’t have dinner ready, so I had to put her in her place. I may have overdone it.
Cops: We’ve just confirmed, this woman is most definitely dead.
Man: Well then, that makes me a murderer, doesn’t it? You’d better arrest me.
Cops: Anything else you need to tell us?
Man: I roughed up a cheap whore last week too. She probably isn’t going to say anything…but I just want to clear the air on that one.
Cops: Okay. Thank you for your cooperation.

I think this is also why Japan’s percentage of solved crimes are so high. Until the 1990s, Japan had a crime solving rate of more than 70%, which was one of the highest in the world. In comparison, the U.S. had a solving rate of a mere 20%. That means, if you committ a crime in the U.S., you’re probably going to get away with it.