From time to time I have been asked to remind people that although Japan is a very safe country, there are times when it is not. The yearend has always been a time when people should be especially careful. In old Japan, all debts had to be paid by the end of the year, but even a cursory perusal of today's news shows that massive debts have been passed on, often scandalously, from year to year. However, the warning is still appropriate at lower levels. Pickpockets are more active in the safety provided to their profession by relaxed crowds enjoying yearend parties, and robbers know people are likely to have more money around the house.

And here is where the threat lies. Recently I wrote of sensible preparations to take for the millennium changeover. While we are assured that businesses are Y2K ready, no one will know until it happens.

Many plan to withdraw at least enough money from the bank to see them through a week or two, and some will all but close their accounts in case records are wiped out in some massive computer glitch. Professional gangs operating in Asia are well aware of this possibility, and money lost to criminals may be even more unrecoverable than money misplaced by a bank's computer.