Osaka police said Wednesday they failed to report roughly 81,000 criminal cases to the National Police Agency between 2008 and 2012 — nearly 10 percent of the total number reported by the prefectural police force during the five-year period.

Osaka had seen the most bicycle thefts, muggings and other street crimes among the country's 48 prefectures since 2000, but was thought to have been overtaken by Tokyo between 2010 and 2012.

The latest internal investigation has indicated, however, that Osaka remained the prefecture with the most cases of such crimes in the country throughout the years leading up to 2012.