Kidnapping

Kidnapping is one of the most awful crimes. Especially the people who have kids are worried about it regardless of they are rich or not. There have been no outstanding cases in which foreigners including adults are kidnapped for ransom in Japan. However, it could happen to you or your family in any country. Japan is not exceptional. Here are some kidnapping cases Japanese people get involved in. It seems to me that there are more cases where Japanese adults are kidnapped.

As the more Japanese people are going overseas for pleasure or business, the more of them are getting involved in some kinds of crimes in foreign countries nowadays. Especially in business, a lot of Japanese companies dispatch Japanese employees overseas for shifting their production offshore facilities in order to look for cheaper costs. Being followed by globalization, Japanese businesspersons face the risks of being kidnapped overseas for Japanese money.

The risks of getting involved in crimes overseas are quite different between sightseers and workers. Since tourists stay overseas temporarily, the crimes are usually unplanned There have been some cases where tourists are killed overseas making it appear as if it were an accident, mostly to fraud insurance money. Except intentionally planned incidents, most of crimes are very minor such as wallet thieves, cheats taking advantage of tourist’s ignorance in foreign places.

On the other hand, the workers who stay overseas on business are exposed to different risks although it depends on countries. They usually live there for a certain period with their families. Those workers tend to make good preparations for a long-run life. As opposed to travelers who take it easier for going overseas, they are careful about overseas life. With the help of the staff there it’s advantageous for them to gather information about the staying countries. However, there are some risky situations where even well-prepared residents can’t avoid. Kidnapping is one of them.

The most shocking case was that the branch manger of a Japanese trading company was kidnapped in Manila. The kidnapper demanded ransom for the branch manager’s life to the trading company sending threat pictures of the captured manager whose fingers were seemingly cut. Fortunately he came alive safely with his fingers. But we are not still sure whether or not there was a deal between the kidnapper and the trading company.

Kidnapping also happened in Japan. The case in which the president of a prestigious food company was kidnapped in the middles of eighties was obvious one. He was also released alive some days later. But when the statute of limitations came in 2000, the case was shrouded in mystery.

Many of the Japanese kidnappings were company-related as I introduce above. Kidnappers target at Japanese companies because they can ask for much ransom and Japanese companies are considered to show a willingness to compromise. You may think that you have nothing to do with kidnapping because you are neither wealthy nor work for rich Japanese companies. But it's not troublesome to make occasional changes of your ways back home just for added precautions.

<The number of domestic kidnapping>

National Police Agency