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Haley, John O. A Spiral of Success: Community Support Is Key to Restorative Justice in Japan

The author states that no industrial democracy has been as successful as Japan in dealing with crime. Japanese authorities have learned from experience that offender correction and restoration to the community are essential elements of an approach that has proven to be effective in correcting socially deviant behavior. What has developed is a spiral of success, with law enforcement officials, community members, criminals, and victims working interdependently to prevent crime and reintegrate offenders back into the community.

Miyazawa, Setsuo. "The politics of increasing punitiveness and the rising populism in Japanese criminal justice policy"

The purpose of this article is (1) to establish that increasing punitiveness characterizes criminal justice policies in Japan and (2) to explain this trend in terms of the penal populism promoted by crime victims and supporting politicians. This article first examines newspaper articles to illuminate the increasingly punitive character of recent criminal justice policies in Japan in terms of both legislation and judicial decisions. The next section discusses the main contributing factors behind this trend and its public acceptance. The next two sections discuss two related issues: the public’s subjective sense of security, and the lack of a role for empirical criminologists in criminal justice policy making in Japan. The concluding section compares the Japanese and Anglo-American situations and argues that the same penal populism seen in Anglo- American countries is rapidly rising in Japan, and that public distrust of government has ironically increased the state’s investigative, prosecutorial, and sentencing powers in Japan. This article closes with the conjecture that police, prosecutors, and judges are unlikely to relinquish their increased power in the event that they gain the public’s trust and equally unlikely in the event of a change of the ruling party.

Takahashi, Yoshiko . Toward a Balancing Approach: The Use of Apology in Japanese Society

Restorative justice as a concept, as well as a process in criminal justice systems has received increased attention over the last decade. A significant feature of restorative justice is “satisfying justice.â€? In Japan, there is a strong cultural commitment to include a restorative concept. Traditionally, Japanese society has used informal methods of dispute resolution that maintain harmony among members of the group. One such method is the use of apology. By introducing the concept of restorative justice into the system, people could find more fulfillment from the criminal justice system. This article examines a Japanese society in which an apology has a particularly important meaning. Students’ opinions about apologies in criminal cases were examined. It was found that more Japanese students than American students believed the case would not be fully resolved without an apology from the offender. It is concluded that Japan would take a more restorative approach with a use of a one-to-one apology. The effective use of apology in the criminal justice system could be useful not only in Japan but in other countries as well. In conclusion, apology is an often overlooked aspect of restorative justice. Apology can be an effective element in how victims respond to restorative justice effects. Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Japan and Restorative Practices

The emphasis on apology and forgiveness in Japanese society has led many commentators, such as John O. Haley, to point to Japan as an example of how restorative justice can affect crime and society. Despite this prominence of apology and forgiveness in explaining lower crime rates in Japan, these mechanisms have remained informal and tend to be offender focused. Recent activities seek to change this reality.