The number of crimes in Japan is expected to drop in 2003 for the first time in eight years, according to a report on January-November crime figures released by the National Police Agency.
During the period in question, 2,548,761 violations of the criminal code were reported, a 2.3 percent drop from the corresponding figure in 2002, the agency said.
The previous year's figure, 2,608,584, was the worst in the postwar era, prompting the agency to boost crime-prevention efforts.
"The number of criminal cases is likely to decrease this year after increasing for seven straight years," remarked agency chief Hidehiko Sato. "I think this year was the first for us to restore civil order."
The drop was laid to a decrease of nearly 10 percent in street crimes, such as purse-snatchings. But serious crimes, including murder, robbery and arson, jumped 7 percent from the same period last year to 21,760.
Robberies were up 9.9 percent from a year ago.
The number of suspects arrested or questioned rose 7.9 percent to 597,540, accounting for 23.4 percent of the total crime figure, up 2.2 percentage points from a year ago.