pIn the wake of the earthquake and tsunami, Japan has been noticeably absent of looting and crime. Naturally, we all assume that the Japanese are just that orderly, polite and all those other enviable traits. These things are true, but a target=”_blank” href=”http://www.slate.com/id/2288514/pagenum/all/#p2″Slate and Jake Adelstein/a added a little more depth to why these traits exist./p
pSlate points out something I was never really aware of: there’s a well-built punishment and reward system for following the rules, especially when it comes to losing items. Oftentimes, a reward of 5-20% of the objects worth will be given to the finder, and if nobody claims it, then the finder gets it after six months. If you went ahead and just took it? The police would be a lot harsher to you./p
pA more interesting angle, courtesy of Jake Adelstein: the yakuza./p
pAccording to Adelstein, the major yakuza families have squads formed that walk the streets, just like the police officers do, to make sure that crime doesn’t happen during this crisis. According to one yakuza boss: “In times of crisis, there are not Yakuza and civilians or foreigners. There are only human beings and we should help each other.”/p
pIt’s good to know that everyone is pitching in to help out in Japan, from the top of the government to the furthest outskirts of the law./p
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