英语短文阅读：疫情期间日本的犯罪率降到历史最低

疫情期间日本的犯罪率降到历史最低（中等水平）

Crime in Japan Drops to Record Low During Pandemic

The total number of crimes in Japan reached its lowest number since World War II in 2020, which is the sixth consecutive year the record has been broken.

According to data from Japan's National Police Agency, the number of crimes recorded by police fell 18% to less than 615,000, down from almost 750,000 in 2019. This was the largest drop ever recorded.

The police said that there may have been fewer crimes because more people were staying home due to the coronavirus. Japan declared a national state of emergency because of the coronavirus in April, and in May, the number of street crimes — such as stealing purses or bicycles — had fallen 43% compared to May, 2019.

However, 2020 was the worst year on record for cybercrime, with a 4% increase compared to 2019. There was also a 51% increase in cases of money being stolen from ATMs using fake or stolen cash cards.

The most crimes were recorded in Tokyo, Osaka and Saitama prefecture, with almost one-third of all of the country's crimes reported across these three areas. The fewest crimes — just 1,814 — were recorded in Tottori prefecture, which is also the prefecture with the smallest population.

Japan's crime rate peaked in 2002, when more than 2.8 million were reported.

In the US, which has about two and a half times the population of Japan, more than 8.1 million crimes were recorded by police in 2019, the most recent year for which data is available.