If this were the real explanation though, then it would mean that the vast majority of criminals go free, since in the real world there is rarely “slam-dunk” evidence.
I don’t know much about the specific example of Japan, but generally speaking, this comment isn’t necessarily correct. In a culturally homogeneous and tightly-knit society, in which strong traditional norms covering all aspects of life are taken with great seriousness and individuals normally don’t spend much time in isolation and anonymity, it can be very hard to commit a crime without leaving slam-dunk evidence. Moreover, in such societies, it may be that only a vanishingly small number of people would be capable of committing a crime and lying convincingly about it when questioned later by authority figures.
To what extent the contemporary Japan has these characteristics, I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that it has them in a greater measure than, say, the U.S. I also don’t know if there could perhaps be some other aspects of their culture that have similar implications for the issues of crime.
Therefore, even if it’s true that Japanese courts are nearly always agreeing with prosecutors doesn’t by itself mean that the system is worse than the American one by either metric. We would need more concrete data to make such judgments.
In a culturally homogeneous and tightly-knit society, in which strong traditional norms covering all aspects of life are taken with great seriousness and individuals normally don’t spend much time in isolation and anonymity
I’m absolutely not an expert (I’ve never even been to Japan), but this really doesn’t sound like modern Japan to me, at least based on what I’ve absorbed from pop culture.
To what extent the contemporary Japan has these characteristics, I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that it has them in a greater measure than, say, the U.S.
More so than the US, sure—but the US is an anomaly when it comes to cultural heterogeneity. Lots of countries with western-style legal systems have a similar level of cultural homogeneity to Japan, but don’t see this same phenomenon.
kodos96:
I don’t know much about the specific example of Japan, but generally speaking, this comment isn’t necessarily correct. In a culturally homogeneous and tightly-knit society, in which strong traditional norms covering all aspects of life are taken with great seriousness and individuals normally don’t spend much time in isolation and anonymity, it can be very hard to commit a crime without leaving slam-dunk evidence. Moreover, in such societies, it may be that only a vanishingly small number of people would be capable of committing a crime and lying convincingly about it when questioned later by authority figures.
To what extent the contemporary Japan has these characteristics, I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that it has them in a greater measure than, say, the U.S. I also don’t know if there could perhaps be some other aspects of their culture that have similar implications for the issues of crime.
Therefore, even if it’s true that Japanese courts are nearly always agreeing with prosecutors doesn’t by itself mean that the system is worse than the American one by either metric. We would need more concrete data to make such judgments.
I’m absolutely not an expert (I’ve never even been to Japan), but this really doesn’t sound like modern Japan to me, at least based on what I’ve absorbed from pop culture.
More so than the US, sure—but the US is an anomaly when it comes to cultural heterogeneity. Lots of countries with western-style legal systems have a similar level of cultural homogeneity to Japan, but don’t see this same phenomenon.