Why is the Japanese legal system so messed up ?
 

Will it ever change? How did it get this way?

This is one of the big things that worries me about moving to Japan. The whole guilty until proven innocent, a month in jail with no charges, etc....
Its worrying...Why are things this way? How come the international community lets them get away with it?

If one doesn't break the law, one doesn't have to worry about these things (for the most part)

Heh, best way to avoid it is to not do anything naughty in Japan eh ;)

I wouldn't say the legal system is messed up,or at least that's not to my knowledge,but those police that chased Ichihashi were SLOW. They couldn't jump.

Is this true? If so you're right, totally messed up.

How can someone be held in jail without charges? What is this, fucking XIXth century?

I think in the US it is 72 hours. In Japan it is 23 days.

While cultural aspects are a large part of it - there are other reasons why people don`t break the law in Japan.

Seriously though, you have to do a LOT to end up in that sort of situation. You need to seriously make a lot of people very very angry. It isn`t like they walk around picking up jaywalkers and leaving them to rot in jail. It is very easy to avoid this - Japanese law doesn`t go out of it`s way to interfere in people`s lives.

Keep in mind that in Japan, I believe that the figure for conviction is something like 98~99%. If you are taken into custody, you`re very very likely to be guilty. Taking someone into custody occurs at a different stage in the process. In the US, it seems that just picking someone up and holding them in custody is a first step - in Japan, it is a few steps down the line. It is at the stage where they have enough against you to say with virtually no doubt that you`re guilty - but are sorting out the charges.

Yes it is 72 hours in the States and pretty much everywhere. Somehow Japan always manages to find a way to stand out from everyone else.

I'm always split on controversial issues. On one hand (the micro level) I would be pissed as hell if I got picked up for something and ended up getting detained for that long, plus all of the forced confessions and whatnot that go down in the Japanese legal system. On the other hand (the macro level) I absolutely enjoy the next to nothing level of surface crime in the country. Being from one of the more dangerous places in the US (Baltimore), it's totally refreshing to not have to deal with any kind of crime on a daily basis.

Same here with Chicago.... At least I don't live on the south or west sides.... Just a hop and a skip from Wrigley Field is where you'll find me posting from....