Danger! Danger! High Voltage...

While our Prime Minister, Koizumi, if off swanning around Graceland with Bush, there is a perception here at home that Japan is going to the dogs.
In the last two weeks, there have beeen several shocking new stories.
We've had a single mother (who is suspected to have abused and murdered her own child) go on to murder one of that daughter's little classmates. And this in a small country town of 1000 where people don't lock their doors, etc., etc.
We've had a sixteen-year-old boy who, it seems, was under terrible pressure from his father for academic success. Unable to cope with this very common 'Japanese' stress, the boy decided to punish his dad. The answer was arson. When his father was out at work and while his step mother and two step sisters were sleeping upstairs, the boy locked all the doors and windows and set fire to the lot. Ebing a wooden house, the family had no chance and died instantly. The boy showed no remorse, it was reported, and was captured on breaking into a stranger's house. Apparently he didn't want to miss a big match Japan was playing in the World Cup.
And then there last week we had the story of a rich girl kidnapped in broad daylight and held for ransom . Seriously this place is starting to feel like Colombia or something. The kidnapping story would nearly be funny for its amateurism, but it was deadly serious. The criminals, though inept, had an illegal Russian pistol and weren't afraid to use it. This is nigh unheard of over here and a very worrying trend. Luckily this had a happy ending with no-one injured and the kidnappee safely recovered.
Now I know I have to keep things in prespective. Japan is still very safe. I myself have no experience of crime, and, beyond a little burglary, none of the people in my circle do either.
What may be happening is just that crime is now more widely reported.
For example the papers said tlast week that the level of domestic abuse went up 20% last year in Japan. I really don't think the crime itself increased so much. I would say rather 'reports'of such crimes increased 20%.
For manyn many years, the idea of saving face and maintaining family honour meant that if something terrible happened to you, the first reaction was to try and cover it up. But now, with the traditional family unit breaking down, it seems that the true, dark undebelly of life in Japan is coming to light.
Like I said, I'm not going to get swept up in the mass media scare-mongering. But there is no denying this society is changing one way or the other.
I know, also, that my recent posts about Japan have been very negative. This is just a phase. As soon as my big sis gets over, I'll see the place through here eyes and fall in love with the country all over again.