Headless body of woman found in river

Is Japan really as safe as we are always reminded to believe?

Is Japan really as safe as we are always reminded to believe?

Yes.

cluelessJun. 22, 2015 - 10:57AM JST Is Japan really as safe as we are always reminded to believe?

Indeed very safe , but many people are very sick ..

<>http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/man-stabbed-while-walking-home-in-hyogo <>http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/mans-body-found-in-garbage-bag-in-osaka

And now this. Not a good week for Kansai.

It is safe, yes, there are some weirdos out there, aren't there weirdos everywhere. Murders are usually relationship and family related, an occasional case of a sicko going on a stabbing spree because he/she wants to get the death penalty being suicidal but not able to do it themselves. At first they want to get shot by police probably. Never had any problem in Japan over the last 10 years or so.

I always keep in mind that Japan is a nation of 125+ million people and we usually see an article about every one of these incidents, regardless of wherever it may occur in Japan. Because these incidents are national news.

Which means that, while we seem to see such articles frequently, it is not as though there are lots of similar incidents that are not being reported here/that we don't see.

Meaning, if we were to see a story every day, that would still be "only" 365 murders. For a nation of 125+ million people.

zones2surf - you have just pointed out a major portion of the reason why it is a failure in logic to determine the safety (or lack thereof) of a country based on the number of articles read on a news site/newspaper. This logic seems to escape quite a few of the readers here though.

Well said, zones2surf! How shocking a murder is != how common murder is.

Used to live there. A few years ago a woman was killed in Ankoji, and we also had a spate of armed taxi-robbings. Then there was the shoe pervert who would rob women of one (not both) of their shoes before making a run for it. I'd make a joke about that, but I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate.

There's a definite North/South divide in Osaka, the main 171 route between Kyoto and Nishinomiya being the dividing line. In Takasuki, there is quite a lot of public housing and light industry the closer you get to the Yodo river, and I wouldn't want to venture off the main roads after dark.

The Hio river is not particularly long, maybe only 3.5 km, so the body can't have been dumped far upstream, which makes it an odd place to dispose a body as it makes forensic work easier (smaller search area). Why not the far larger Yodo river?

How can you float in 10cms of water??

Far more gruesome than most murders, IMO.

@Mad_World:

Well, its actually not all that difficult. Two key points to note. First, the body was floating on its back, which provides a flatter surface in relation to the water surface. Second, and most importantly, body decomposition had begun, which means that the because of the decomposition process, the body was beginning to produce game internally that would produce buoyancy. Not that I am a CSI or anything, but that is the science.

There's a definite North/South divide in Osaka, the main 171 route between Kyoto and Nishinomiya being the dividing line.

That's a strange division. There's not much of Osaka north of that.

That's a strange division. There's not much of Osaka north of that.

The monied classes largely reside north of that road; the plebs in Hirakata and along the Keihan line. You won't find much industry north of the 171, which is what keeps it "gentrified".

The monied classes largely reside north of that road; the plebs in Hirakata and along the Keihan line.

And south of Hirakata?

To the south is a mixture of light to medium industry concentrated along waterways with residential areas dotted in between. This pretty much continues towards Wakayama.

@ clueless. Don't worry. Always bear in mind the size of Japan's population and its density. Back home it seems as if we have a nation of young people walking around with chips on their shoulders looking for a fight. Japan is very safe.

It's definitely a safe country in terms of not having much in the way of random acts of violence, aggressive youths and gangs wandering the streets or pickpocketing etc. I've never once felt threatened or in any danger walking anywhere in Japan at anytime of the day or night.