Nicholas’ Travel Abroad

            Never once during our trip did I feel like I was in a dangerous city or in any danger, even in Roppongi.  Sure the Nigerian bouncers were irritating and pushy, but I never felt like one was going to physically harm me if I said “no.”  The recent stabbing attack in Akihabara got me thinking though, if since we view Japan as this sophisticated society, we also assume that crime is no longer a problem.  The stabbings in Akihabara quickly brought me back to reality though, and after some research I found out that Japan does have low crime rate.  This makes incidences such as this much higher profile, not to say that if someone started stabbing people in Time Square that it would be on page 6 of the newspaper.  Large cities in America seem much grittier though, which adds to the sense of being unsafe.  Recently I was riding on a bus with the other Jackson interns’ home from the Tigers game in downtown Detroit, when outside threw a rock at the bus.  Everyone immediately assumed the worse, because we were in dangerous downtown Detroit.  Although Tokyo is much larger than Detroit, and has its shady areas I’m sure, I never felt unsafe.  Even when we accidentally strayed off the beaten path looking for a restaurant or store, I never felt like I was in danger of being robbed or hurt.  

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080608/ts_nm/japan_stabbing_dc