As always, take Japanese crime statistics with a large grain of salt. I remember the Japanese police have quoted something like a 90%+ clearance rate (uh, yeah, right).
Also, do I remember incorrectly or did they not go on a serious campaign to break the yakuza at the same time?
A lot of petty crime is enabled by the organized crime providing the infrastructure (fencing, financing, etc.) required for individuals to be able to convert their crime into money.
(See, for example, the current "shoplifting" spree in the US or "bike theft" rings. While individuals often commit the crimes, gangs are the big enablers by functioning as fences. It's why your stolen bike can wind up in Mexico before 24 hours have passed.)
> Why is it so incredible that a foreign country can behave differently and have low crime?
It's not. However, the Japanese are notorious for underreporting negative things like suicide and crime statistics.
> Property isn't worth taking anymore.
Given that the US had an almost identical order of magnitude drop in burglary (which started dropping before Japan's did) and didn't particularly do anything new, that's probably a much better explanation.
People not transacting cash is probably the biggest cause. People just don't have cash in their wallets or purses anymore.
After that is gone, what can you steal out of my house that's actually valuable?
I'll let someone else jump in here, but do remember that Japan was one of the first places where you could use your phone to pay for just about everything.
And the fact that the Japanese police won't take on "difficult" cases. If it isn't a slam dunk, they will refuse to even start to do anything about it.
Also, do I remember incorrectly or did they not go on a serious campaign to break the yakuza at the same time?
A lot of petty crime is enabled by the organized crime providing the infrastructure (fencing, financing, etc.) required for individuals to be able to convert their crime into money.
(See, for example, the current "shoplifting" spree in the US or "bike theft" rings. While individuals often commit the crimes, gangs are the big enablers by functioning as fences. It's why your stolen bike can wind up in Mexico before 24 hours have passed.)