Letter: Japan's 'respect' culture

Published: Monday, Jan. 14 2013 12:00 a.m. MST

Summary

Miriam Greenland attempts to campaign for shorter prison sentences by comparing incarceration rates between the U.S. and Japan ("Why the Disparity?" Jan. 9). Her stats, based on population rather than term length, are a meaningless comparison.

The disparity isn't term length, but the cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan. Japanese are taught from birth to respect each other. It's likely the only developed world culture where you could lose a wallet on the street of any Japanese city and pick it up, still full of money, at the local police station. If the city has a large foreign population, you probably wouldn't be so lucky.

The per capita of incarceration isn't due to short terms as much as it is due to a culture of respect and consideration.

Rick Giles

Draper

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LDS Liberal

Farmington, UT

I served an LDS mission amongst Asians.

Japan [as well as the rest of our friends and allies with lower crime rates] are all "Socialist".
They believe what is good for Society, benefits the self.
All for one, and one for More..

8:57 a.m. Jan. 14, 2013
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Roland Kayser

Cottonwood Heights, UT

You can compare the U.S. incarceration rate with that of any other developed country, not just Japan, and you will find that our rate is many times higher. Clearly we are doing something very wrong compared to the rest of the world. I don't More..

1:57 a.m. Jan. 14, 2013
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Hutterite

American Fork, UT

Japan is indeed a unique, and very safe culture. It's also incredibly homogenous, which is an advantage, or disadvantage, depending on how you look at it. However, or incarceration rate has more to do with stupid pot laws than anything else.

1:01 p.m. Jan. 14, 2013
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