I heard most japanese people are an atheist. But why is crime in Japan lower than in many Christian countries?

yeah, you heard wrong...most japanese people are NOT atheists. like some others have pointed out, most japanese are buddhist or shinto. i am an american living in japan, and while i cant guess why christian countries have more crime than japan, the idea in japan is to respect others, and life in general. they are taught to be humble and respect humanity, as well as idea of working together and helping each other. when i first came to japan, being a "typical" american, i was taught to be an individual, and think about me me me. as time went on, i noticed japanese people (i know and work with many japanese people. about 99%) greet each other, take time to say hello, help someone who needs a little help, and are more aware of how their actions affect others around them. they are more considerate to each other then americans are to each other.

my wife, who is japanese, told me to write that japanese feel ashamed of having an ego. in the culture here, its not good to boast about ones talents or abilities. if you boast about yourself, its like saying you are better than others around you, and it creates an uneasy feeling among others. japanese like to keep things very fair and not make waves. also japanese are taught to endure situations even if they are not pleasant. the feel the situation will pass, so just endure a little discomfort. americans are taught to be vocal and we often complain about such things. going back to americans' individual thinking, we often feel that our freedom means we can do anything we want, and forget what others think or how they feel. in japan they feel that that kind of thinking is selfish, and to be selfish is bad. japanese also are very willing to find the middle ground in a situation to make both sides happy, where in the US we tend to fight to be right or wrong. black or white, with no middle ground. we always want a winner and a loser...japanese try to find 2 winners. i have lived here for 5.5 years now, and i am more relaxed and willing to help others because others have helped me. and i have picked up on the japanese way of thinking more, and i take responsibility for my actions and dont point the finger as much. for example, i went to a concert in the US after having lived here (in japan) 4 years, and i was trying to get to my seat. i had to side shuffle in front of the people in my row to get to my seats, and in the process, i accidental kicked over this guys beer. now, i know my part was bad...maybe i shoulda been more careful, but maybe he shouldnt have put his beer where people dont have to walk...but he said "HEY, thats my beer man, blah blah blah" in a pissed off, aggressive tone. knowing i was partly to blame, i pulled $5 out and gave it to him on the spot for a new beer and said "oh man, i'm sorry about that". he kinda stopped in his tracks and his expression changed from pissed to surprised and relieved. so, problem averted. i coulda argued with him and fought to not pay for his drink, but that would have made a long, uncomfortable situation as i had to sit next to him. instead, i owned up to my part of the mistake, and made a small donation to keep the peace. THAT is how japanese people think, and THAT is why the crime is much lower here.

sorry my reply so long, but i hope that helps.

1

I am Japanese. I was born and brought up in Japan. As above Mr. or Ms guichojp said, most Japanese are atheists or non religion.

Most of Japanese don't believe God at all.

There are only a few proportion of Buddhist and Shinto and cult in Japan,

so above best answer is completely wrong.

Crime rate is nothing to do with religion at all.

The questioner believes that atheist people commit crime more than religious people, so ridiculous and stupid.

You can see there are the discremination that kind part of (I think most of) religious people discrminate to atheist people like that.

I think the religion is collective brainwashing act. I think it's a crutch for people that are too weak to get through life on their own. If you are smart person you can't belieave God. Religion is fairy tale and the most fear things is there is high possibility that it makes you kill human more than Atheist and Agnostic. You can see many Murder case which are connected with religion nowadays.

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RE:

I heard most japanese people are an atheist. But why is crime in Japan lower than in many Christian countries?

why are they well-mannered?

Some Japanese said, "Why could you Christian do that terrible things through believing the God."

Religions are just one part at the way of crime prevention.

Anyway, guys pointed out Japanese has Buddhism and Shinto.

Actually, both of them are big part of Japanese culture and moral.

Many people say they are atheist cause most of Japanese don't believe them as other country's people does about their owns.

(And many of youth think that the strong believes are just the Cults in the present Japan too.)

Their believe admonish an annoyance more than an evil.

They don't care about "Who is the Collect God".

Animism gods of Shinto are great, ancestor's souls of Buddhism are great.

In addition, maybe the maker or the judge of the world who looks like Christian's are great too for them; it just not be in their "custom" now.

You know, they don't need to identify the subject in Japanese passages.

You need to say,"God bless you."

In Japan, "no one" bless you. Never mind who do it.

"Anyone" may do that, or JUST IT HAPPEN though you keep taking polite behavior.

The important thing is whether you and your surroundings could live comfortable together or not.

Not knowing who makes the world or who is the greatest.

Of cause Buddhism and Shinto have those stories too.

But it's not main purpose.

(In correct, the elders are always greater in Confucianism: in Japan, China etc...)

One of Buddhism philosophy is Reincarnation.

All Souls have same value, and people will reborn as animals, evils, etc, or once again the humans in the next lives.

They will continue the cycles again and again.

A bad behavior returns a suitable result. Good one too.

We can't know when it comes. It can be tomorrow, or the next life.

In those cycle, THEY HAVE NO FORGIVENESS from the god.

You must Pay all by yourselves, even if its costs FOREVER.

Japanese are good at arrangement.

They mixed a lot of element in their own from many foreign culture.

So, Reincarnation is only one example of their behind.

But now you see, Japanese have strong religion too.

They care about their selves, than others.

So people are hard to notice it. That's all.

First of all, it's not even true most people living in japan are atheist.

Second of all, just because someone is atheist doesn't mean they are violent? they don't need a book telling them right from wrong. So i don't understand why it would be a question to why the crime rate is lower there, they are just less violent, better people there. I guess?

Religion has nothing to do with it.

No, this is actually mostly correct as I understand it. According to a number of polls done of the years in Japan, the majority of Japanese do not claim to be religious and only a small portion of the population actually participates in formal religious practice according to these polls. The Japanese, however, are big on tradition. That is why they still carry out many traditional practices that appear to be religious, such as Shinto Weddings and praying at shrines. Even people who are formally religious, but are not Shinto, go to shrines in Japan because most Japanese believe it's more like wishing for good luck and prosperity and there isn't a god that's going to do something for them.

As to why they're so well mannered, that is believed to go back to a much more violent time. Samurai were at one point legally allowed to kill commoners just to test out new swords. Not offending Samurai became a survival tactic. The Japanese learned to be exceedingly polite, well mannered and highly non-confrontational. That's supposedly also when they began speaking in very vague terms, there are phrases that is used to basically stop a line of inquiry in it's tracks dead with absolutely no explanation whatsoever, but in a polite way. Such as "Yeah, my mother in law is living with use due to reasons..." or "I'd like to, but there are reasons I can't."

The politeness is part of why it's one of the safest countries in the world. But another part is because the Japanese are raised with a group mentality. You do what's good for the group before you do what's good for yourself. The group always comes first in Japan. They tend to feel guilty for going against the group (which is why the Japanese have such a hard time saying no to things like going out for drinks after work even if they'd rather go home), and committing a crime goes against the group, which in that case would be their neighborhood or city. Community watch is a pretty big deal in Japan because of that. It has been proven, however, that some people are born with defective parts in their brain that lead to criminal behavior. Those people will always pop up no matter what. Those people can end up influencing others. Those are probably the primary factors of crime in Japan. I'm sure there's the occasional desperate sod, but some people are just born bad and they're likely the ones doing or influencing most of the crime in all of the countries that are considered to be the safest in the world.

As others have pointed out, there are two major religions practiced in Japan: Buddhism and Shinto. So it's not true that most Japanese people are atheist.

As for why crime is lower in Japan than in the US, for example, it has much more to do with our difference in cultures than our respective religious beliefs. The thing is, Americans have a largely individualistic culture and the Japanese have a strong collectivist culture. I once interviewed a Japanese friend of mine for a college class and found out a lot about this concept. The best way to explain it is this:

Let's say your brother commits a serious crime (e.g., robbery, rape, murder, etc.) and gets arrested for it. In the US, your brother would be punished, but other than enduring some gossip and/or possibly loss of some privacy, it wouldn't really affect your extended family. Ideally, people try not to judge you for your brother's actions. However, if this happened in Japan, the consequences would be much more widespread. Not only would your brother's crime affect him and your immediate family, it could directly affect the lives of your extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) causing them to lose their jobs, be demoted, be socially shunned, and so forth. So when they say "you've shamed your family," they literally mean *all* members of your family.

Simply put, theoretically in the US, what you do affects you and you alone and it's acceptable to act in your own best interests. In Japan, what you do can affect an untold number of people, therefore, it's very strongly encouraged that you do what's best for the group.

Hope this helps.

I am Japanese.

A way of thinking is fundamentally different from a Japanese with an American.

The Japanese is irreligion, and it is not an atheist.

The Japanese thinks that the number of crimes has nothing to do with the religion.

Because originally a Japanese is well-mannered, and there are few crimes, I do not need religion.

The religion does not have relevance with the crime.

We cannot understand your thought.

The Japanese is polytheism.

The Japanese thinks that there is lot of God to every thing

Therefore a Japanese is not an atheist.

A crime is a social problem, and it is not a problem of the faith.

American is stupid.

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I'm Japanese.

I think creed doesn't matter.

Japanese parents and teachers are very strict in discipline and teach children good manners. They really don't want to bother other people. Because Japanese children grow up in this environment, they are fully capable of recognizing their responsibility for the crime.

However, with increasing numbers of drug users and people with many other serious problems in our country, the number of unfit parents has increased dramatically in the past few decades, Juvenile delinquency is on the increase at an alarming rate.