Elderly crime on the rise in greying Japan

WITH one hand gripping a walking cane and the other tucked into the pocket of his black jacket, retiree Yoshikane Omi hobbled along a deserted shopping street in the middle of a cold November night.

The 71-year-old former salaryman, who had a stroke a few years ago, lives in a two-storey home in Yokohama with his wife, who works part-time at a convenience store to make ends meet. Their three adult children have moved out.

Ayu Hirose, 34, was walking on the same shopping street on her way home at 3.30am on Nov 11 when she was struck from behind and stabbed multiple times.

Her assailant was none other than Omi, who had a 23cm kitchen knife. She survived the attack.

That the crime was committed by a crippled senior citizen – Omi told police that he “needed money to buy cigarettes and booze” – shocked the middle-class community, where neighbours said he was a sociable man before his stroke.

But Omi’s case is not an isolated one – elderly crime in Japan is rising.

One week after his indictment for attempted murder and armed robbery, the Justice Ministry’s annual White Paper on crime showed a worsening geriatric crime wave in the country.

Given the poverty, solitude and isolation among the elderly, if they believe they can enter prison by shoplifting, this becomes a way to secure a place where they can sleep and eat.

Japan has a population of 126.7 million, with more than one in four aged 65 and above.

Last year, a record 21.5% of all penal code offences were committed by the elderly, up 0.8% point from 2016, in a trend experts believe will worsen, given Japan’s fast-ageing population and inadequate social support systems.

The spate of elderly crimes came even as there was an overall drop in Japan’s crime rate.

The 405-page White Paper issued recently showed that the total number of criminal offences fell by 8.1% last year to 915,042 cases in a post-war record low. This translates to 722 cases per 100,000 people last year – down from 785 in 2016 and 865 in 2015.

The plunge was due mainly to an 8% decline in non-violent thefts, from 723,148 cases in 2016 to 665,498 cases last year.

Shoplifting accounted for 85% of non-violent thefts committed by the elderly.

In a case that made the headlines recently, unemployed 64-year-old Masami Fujita – while just short of being defined as a senior citizen – was fined 200,000 yen (RM7,537) for stealing a 30-yen (RM1.13) roll of toilet paper from a hospital in western Japan.

While most non-violent theft cases were closed with police warnings, about half of those that wound up in court ended in fines. But the White Paper also noted that 19% of elderly men and 34% of elderly women reoffended within two years of being fined for non-violent theft.

“It seems there are quite a few people who are trying to enter prison by repeatedly committing theft,” said Dr Emi Kataoka, a sociologist from Tokyo’s Komazawa University.

“Given the poverty, solitude and isolation among the elderly, if they believe they can enter prison by shoplifting, this becomes a way to secure a place where they can sleep and eat.”

What is likely to worsen the trend, said Dr Mayumi Taniguchi of Osaka International University, is the squeeze on welfare expenses with Japan’s fiscal situation under strain.

“There has also been resistance among some elderly to receiving welfare protection – the consciousness of ‘face’ is very strong – and this contributes to situations where they do not get access to social security channels.” — The Straits Times/ANN