Is Japan Safe?
It depends…
I was meeting for coffee with a friend I hadn’t seen in three years. As part of the conversation, I mentioned that I would probably go back to Japan next year to visit. I hadn’t been there since just before the pandemic hit and the country was now opening up again.
“At least it will be safe,” he said.
At that moment, I was taken aback and not sure what he was referring to. Perhaps it was a reference to Covid and the Japanese penchant for mask-wearing, which he associated with safety. Whatever he meant, I just laughed. “Safe?”
“I thought it was safe to walk the streets at all hours, even in the major cities?”
That’s true. Japan has almost zero crime when compared to other countries.
“I was laughing because Japan is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. They have earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, and typhoons. That doesn’t even take into account Godzilla!”
He laughed at that but was surprised to hear it.
“In the winter more than 75% of the homes are heated by portable kerosene heaters. Given that the majority of the homes are made of wood and paper, there are fires to deal with every year as well.”
