How honest / dishonest is Japan?
 

I always found this an interesting topic.

It's very rare to find someone complain about dishonesty in Japan.

I felt the good and the bad. I soon learnt not to hang my shopping on my Yamaha Jog parked in the local supermarket car park as it would often be gone.

I believe the culprits would have been senior women.

What's your image of the honest or dishonest within Japan or your image on the topic?

What do you mean with 'senior women'?
do you mean like... Granny's?:D

I don't understand the question.

I think the same would happen in the US. Does that make the US "dishonest"? I don't think so.

Yeah, I'm a bit confused as well. Are you using 'dishonesty' to mean 'crime' or more like untrustworthy, misleading, or fraudulent behaviour?

Dishonesty thrives everywhere, not just in one particular country. Thieves for instance, no matter where, aren't going to say, "hey, I think that item belongs to someone. I should take it to lost and found." When a opportunity arises, they're going to take.

It's more "oppertunistic" than deliberate I think with that. You'll have Honest and dishonest people where ever you go, doesn't matter the country. My personal view is that Humanity is evil more so than good because evil is easier and Humanity tends to flow like water, allways seeking the easiest path.

It is a legitimate question, but imposible to answer, ok this is what happened to me, I lost my wallet on a theater, some one pict it up and mailed it to me, now what is the probability of that happening in another country, it is imposible to tell, let's say 100 people see it in the floor, how many would take it to lost and found, how many would make the extra effort to mail it,how many would ignor it, how many would steal it, and how many will take out the cash and then mail it.
can you tell the number of people that didn't stole your belongings?

I had a dropped wallet returned to me in Toronto. The person who found it took a taxi to my office since he didn't trust the postal service. Didn't accept any sort of reward either.

Meanwhile, I had my mama-chari stolen in Japan.

I can only conclude that Canada is an honest country and Japan is dishonest. ;)

What was the point of this thread again?

This is a very dishonest topic to discuss. Or perhaps very obscure.

You can't just conclude that based on 1 experience per country...:smokingbear:

Everyone's veiwpoint will be discolored by thier personal experiance anyway.

When I was there the only time I was lied to was when a friend and I tried to get a drink at a coffee shop in Kyoto, and there was only one person working there, but she told us the store was closed when I wasn't.

I bought it at first but my friend says to me she lied to us, there were people in side and the lights were on. Then I'm just like well that's just rude <.<

I think it's because the girl who was working there didn't want to deal with other languages, so that's why she lied.
Aside from that, I didn't encounter any other problems while I was there.
It wasn't a big deal, it just means not everyone you meet is nice or polite.

It's true that people rarely complain about crime and dishonesty in Japan, and people often brag about it being a safe and honest place (whatever the hell that means) -- but these days, the "Japan haters" are so common that I hear more "Japan is racist" comments than I hear praises about it being "honest"


But as far as my experiences, Japan seemed almost too safe. I would often walk or ride bike to the コンビニ at night, and it was creepily safe and silent... maybe there was a dishonest Yamaha thief lurking in the shadows that I never came in contact with :rolleyes:

I have found that when a Japanese is dishonest, they will attempt to hide it to the limit, constantly trying to prove as honest.

Isn't almost everyone like that, not just Japanese people?

you wonder why people dont pay attention to canada? because their trustworthy, nice people,lol. theres not that much gun crime, most people sleep with their doors unlocked, and most of them are pretty considerate or others.

but first experience is everything. you wouldnt go back to a resturaunt if their were rats running around, *cough* Jersey *cough*. but im not saying Japan is bad, just certain parts like any other place in the world. cities have a higher rate of crime than towns or villages.

Yes, but in Japan it is much deeper as to be proved dishonest can have devistating suicidal consequences of which Japan rates as one of the highest in the world. Dishonour is a shocka.

comparing to the US, i prefer Canada better. (although i live in the US)
i remember going to Canada twice, and it's better there. plus, there's too much going on in the US (that's negative), unlike Canada (which is much more pleasant).

The suicide rate is not very relevant to honesty or dishonesty. The country with the highest suicide rate is Belarus, which is nearly double Japan's rate. Second place belongs to Russia, and the remainder of the top 5 or so can be found in Eastern Europe. Japan rates as #7 on the WHO's national suicide rate list. Of course, this list is missing great many countries. As an interesting fact, the suicide rates in Canada and America are pretty much identical, even though guns are common and legal in America, and that crime in America is supposed to be more common than in Canada.

Japan is quite an honest country, though I too have have been a victim of theft since I arrived here. Someone stole a bicycle which I had locked to a tree in front of my GF's apartment building in Tokyo. Not a big deal, when living in America I had my car broken into on several occasions, and someone attempted to break into my house at another time. Luckily for me I kept 2 dogs in the house, which frightened the burglar/s away. On the other hand, I would not be worried at all if I left my door unlocked in Japan.

In business, most Japanese are very honest. I've visited other countries on continents where dishonesty and corruption is the rule, whereas in Japan (and America, and other developed nations), it is the exception.

actually i would say that dishonesty and corruption in japan as well as other developed countries are more prevalent than they appear, and thus alot more dishonest. ie you have to get pretty high up before you see something as obvious as blatant corruption.

having dealt with japanese companies as a subcontractor in the past, the number of times the issue of kickbacks comes up, no matter how diplomatically put, has only been eclipsed by the arabs i've dealt with. atleast with the arabs, as well as some other developing nation companies, it is openly discussed and not hidden away.

the japanese are honest, however, when the deal is done, and they dont ask for any "extras" unlike some of the more unscrupulous.

it all evens out one way or another.

Even though..... It certainly qualifies;)

Suicide in Japan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yes, the more serious the corruption the better it is hidden and at a corporate level, even if you see it, sometimes you are not in a position to prove what you know.

There is a side issue to this as well. In some cultures, what is viewed as corruption is standard business procedure in others. Some of what Americans would consider graft and kickbacks in Japan, the Middle-East, and many other countries are customary negotiation tactics. As an outsider, it can be difficult when these cross the boundary between legitimate negotiation and extortion. But make no mistake, what Trunker refers to is a well known problem.