Twenty years ago in Japan there was no murder. At least, nowhere near what there is today. Most especially, there was none of the random, mindless and 'just for fun' type of murder which people in the West are so acclimatized too. Instead of murder, the Japanese had suicide. As murder is to the outward expression of uncontrollable anger, or a numb disregard for human life, suicide may be the end result of the internalization of these emotions to the extreme. While certainly there is more to the motivational side of both murder and suicide than this brief description, my point is that in less than 20 years we have seen a momentous change in Japan, from the inward to the outward expression of the pressures of our time. The statistics speak loudly. Violent crime and felonies have both doubled since 1995. In 2001 the number of reported murder, armed robbery and kidnapping was 19,795 cases, up 20% over the previous year with the total number of violations of the Penal Code topping 3.58 million for the first time. Though 85% of all violations are petty crime such as theft, sexual assault cases rose 28.7% with sexual crimes against minors rising to 7,376 in 2003, 3 times the 1990 level. Crimes against juveniles increased 17.1% to over 370,000 cases while crimes by minors increased to 144,404 in 2003 and accounted for 70% of all bag snatching and muggings. Suicide is more or less a constant with some noticeable rises as well as falls. For example, reported suicides climbed yearly from the burst of the bubble economy, peaking at 31,755 in 1998 from 21,420 in 1995. Since then the numbers have been slightly up and down, hovering about the 30,000 level.

Witnessing these changes as well as many others in Japan over the last 20 years, a pattern reveals itself. That pattern is the breakup of the family, common throughout all Western, Industrialized, and Capitalist societies. Western society which has pioneered the concept of freewill, the rights of man, free commerce and the idea that all men are equal, has set the direction for societies worldwide - whether or not they are really willing or able to follow. I would agree with Francis Fukuyama that this structure is most reflective of human freewill and therefore the most natural direction for human society. And while there are ups and downs along the way, there exists no better alternative. Then too as an artist, I know a juncture is sometimes reached whereby it becomes impossible to create without destroying ones previous way of thinking. This is the phase of society that Japan entered when the economic 'bubble' of the late '80s and early '90s ended. Although the extraordinary inflation which preceded the collapse is what actually began to tear the fabric of the society, Japan's first really big "bust" in the common "'boom and bust" cycle of capitalism, has created a schism unlike anything seen since the end of World War II. The prolonged recession, which followed, has been instrumental in the changes taking place in the society. And, while many of these changes were long overdue, it may be a characteristic of the Japanese psyche in particular that tends to bottle up problems to the bursting point before they are addressed - which has made the problem greater than it otherwise might have been. The problem being faced by a previously paternalistic society such as in Japan, is what to do when no one tells you, indeed no one knows, what to do anymore? The loosening of societal rules and the breakup of the nuclear as well as the extended family in less than a generation, has left millions of children and adults asking "What do I do now?" The response, for increasingly large segments of Japanese society, has been to simply come apart at the seams.

The process of social deterioration in more mature democracies is nothing new to the West, but it is very new to Japan. Within the short span of 10 years unemployment, divorce, child abuse, drug abuse, out of wedlock pregnancy, truancy, robbery and murder have all skyrocketed. The process that took most western societies long years of change to adjust to, has been compressed in Japan to less than one tenth of the time. The toll on the society has been breathtaking. I say that without being the least bit alarmist. Of course, no one is breaking out the Uzi's, nor are they likely to. And there are no armed militias of the right or the left, no skinheads beating up immigrants, nothing political and, other than one case discussed later, nothing organized. By volume, Japan's crime figures don't come close to those of America for example. To the casual observer or temporary guest, Japan would still seem like one of the most peaceful and law-abiding countries on earth. And indeed it is. But the point is not in its relation to other countries but to its own past and its own health. In this respect, it is a radically different Japan than it was just a short time ago.

The changes, especially in the increase in murder, are perhaps reflective of a new Japanese psyche. One traditional aspect of suicide was the air of 'ultimate responsibility'. An often-sighted example of this is the incident of the Chushingura (47 loyal retainers), who killed a lackey of the shogun in revenge for the humiliation and death of their own master. Knowing full well this act would be condemned and similarly revenged, they committed suicide en mass to take responsibility and uphold their honor as samurai. This same sense of responsibility moved parents in the modern era, to commit suicide - bringing their children to death with them - when overwhelming financial problems seemed to leave them no alternative. The family's shoes removed and neatly arranged on some boat dock, father would proceed to plunge the family car into the ocean with mother and children on board. Though most would consider it criminal to kill one's own children, the idea of leaving them with the scars of their parents disgrace was even more abhorrent to the depressed Japanese mind. Not to say that all feel this way. Many consider the practice to be only for the low-minded. But there is no doubt that both high and low have considered suicide a rational alternative throughout Japanese history. Yet, there is perhaps a new aspect to this cultural phenomenon.

The famous writer Yukio Mishima took to suicide in a highly "theatrical" call to arms, when he exhorted young military men to rise up and save Japan in the late '60s. As a political action it was a total failure, but as a spectacle, even as a kind of conceit, it was overt attention getting at its best. In the early '80s there were occasional spurts of suicide by young people, directly after some pop idol whose life they followed avidly, did the same. Young women were wont to throw themselves from the same building to land on the same spot as their beloved idol had. Neither introverted nor honorable, these acts may have been the handwriting on the wall.

In the late '90s, a spate of suicides among very young people were the seeming result of ijimeru or bullying by fellow students over long periods of time, often with the complacency or active participation of teachers. Many of these suicides included long letters left behind by the victim, detailing the torments and naming the tormentors. But the particular motive of these suicides - the excessive bullying of fellow students - highlighted not only the frustrated introversion of the young victims, but showed how far the extroversion of violent emotions by other students had already come. Indeed, some of the earliest manifestations of the increasing problem of disengagement from reality was this organized bullying of students, not only to the point of suicide, but of extortion and murder as well. Interestingly, a report compiled by the Research and Training Institute for Family Probate Officers, states that "Most juveniles who commit murder single-handedly have experienced a deep sense of frustration or felt cornered, with many contemplating or attempting suicide". It is also a fact that suicide in Japan is highest among the elderly with those over 60 accounting for the most suicides, and 60% of all suicides taking place over the age of 50. While it is true that a large percentage of this is the result of physical illness, much of it is related to economic and emotional distress. It may be that the older generation still turns to suicide in dealing with seemingly insurmountable problems, while the younger generation may be increasingly venting their anger on someone else instead. Today, murder has become random and remorseless. From the beheading of an elementary school child by a fellow student, to the mass murder of intellectually gifted kids by a loosely supervised mental patient. Everyday the headlines scream "bloody murder"! Behind these headlines, an enormous change has taken place in the society. All the pent-up anger and frustration formerly manifest in self-flagellation, has become uncorked in waves of extroverted violence.

This turn from bullying for fun into bullying in earnest was one of the early signs of change. Another may have been the case of Tsutomu Miyazaki the only son of a printer, whose introverted ways led from splatter film mania to the actual kidnapping and dismembering of 4 female children between the ages of 4 and 7 (including eating some of the victims flesh). His crimes were virtually without motivation or remorse. There was in fact a naive "experimental" aspect to his crimes not unlike a child dismembering toys to see what's inside. He even went so far as to burn one of the bodies and deposit the ashes, in a box, on the doorstep of the victim's family.

But perhaps the single-most incident that signaled the arrival of a new age was the now famous case of the "Aum New Religion" cult of young men and women under the leadership of a malcontent in the guise of a Guru named Shoko Asahara (AKA Chizuo Matsumoto). The 'inner circle' of this cult caused worldwide panic by becoming the first to use homemade nerve gas in an urban mass murder. The release of this gas, in one of the biggest cities in the world, at multiple points inside the train system during morning rush hour, sent shivers through metropolises around the globe. As for Japan, it was a significant act in a number of ways. First and foremost may have been that among the perpetrators were a number of the best and brightest- graduates of some of Japan's most prestigious universities. This most monstrous of crimes was carefully planned and executed my just those sons and daughters most prized in the society. But there was more. A deeply seeded 'us vs. them' paranoia, with 'them' being society in general. A cold-eyed, methodical and unrepentant cruelty was at work in the planning and execution of a series of crimes and cover-ups. These included the murder of a lawyer (who was helping the families of members to get back their kids), along his wife and their two young children, the kidnapping and killing of an old man to obtain, by force, his sister's money, and a trail run of nerve gas distribution in a smaller city- all under the guise of an enlightened group of kids. Protective religious laws, subsequently revised, made it difficult to investigate this group and - even after the arrest of the leadership - the chief of police was shot and seriously wounded by a member who was never caught. The group's ability to recruit ever increasing numbers of young people willing to work like slaves, live in horrible conditions and surrender their children for indoctrination, as well as physically abuse, detain, and murder members wanting to leave, was unprecedented. Even after the crimes of their leaders had been fully exposed, many were reluctant to denounce them nor were they willing to quit the group. Here was revealed for the first time the bare face of a new sort of anti-citizen. One with no inner direction and a deep need to be told exactly how to live, both willing and eager to be totally subsumed into the group. And one ready to despise anyone denounced by the group, eagerly willing to participate blindly in the most horrible crimes, on demand, and feel totally justified in doing so. In short, the usual introversion turned inside out into something much more sinister and far more dangerous.

The ensuing years have seen every type of indiscriminate, sudden and senseless murder imaginable. In a mere 10 years, the change has been as dramatic as any in the former Soviet republics. From a society in which no one locked their doors, to a society in which there is as much to fear from ones own family members as from any wild-eyed stranger. This is no exaggeration. 9000 women sought advice on domestic violence in the year 2000 and 1000 cases of domestic violence and murder were prosecuted. The problem of murder and other crimes by minors in particular, prompted a revision to the law on prosecution of minors, lowering the eligible age of criminal prosecution from 16 to 14. And authorities are now authorized, if still not able, to remove children from the home if abuse is documented. But the mayhem continues unabated.

As for the future, without doubt 10 plus years of worsening economy has had an impact on the murder rate and on crime in general. Adults and youths alike, jobless, money-less and without any prospect of a change in the near future are literally exploding under the strain, taking anyone who happens to be close-by along with them. It therefore stands to reason that a better economy will result in a decrease in the overall crime figures as it has in the West. But whether or not the genie of broken families and a fractured society can be totally put back in the bottle is an entirely different question. I personally suspect it cannot.