In 2004, adults committed 3.42 million criminal offenses, a decline for the second year in a row from the postwar record set in 2002. Still, the number of criminal incidents remains disturbingly high. The situation is similar for juvenile delinquency, as shown by the National Police Agency's white paper on crime. Police took action, including custody and formal questioning, against about 193,000 juveniles in 2004, slightly fewer than in 2003.

Every year for the past decade or so, in what has been described as the third peak of juvenile delinquency in the postwar period, police have dealt with about 200,000 juvenile delinquents. The NPA has reported that, in the first half of this year, 58,800 juveniles aged 14 to 19 were taken into police custody in connection with more serious criminal offenses -- a drop for the third straight year. Of these juveniles, 747 were involved in heinous crimes such as murder, burglary and rape -- down 7.2 percent from the same period in 2004. Juveniles accounted for 31.4 percent of those taken into police custody in connection with criminal offenses -- the lowest level since comparable statistics began being compiled in 1979.

While burglaries and rapes have declined, murder and arson cases have increased this year. Thirty-two juveniles were arrested on charges of murder, up 18.5 percent from the same period of 2004. Among them was a high school student charged with killing his parents in June in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo.