It's a weekday afternoon at the Shibuya branch of Tokyu Hands and one section of the popular DIY store is attracting particular attention. Staff are kept busy by the flood of inquiries about the range of door locks neatly displayed in glass cases.
"Our front door lock is about 10 years old, and with all this talk about lock-picking I thought it was about time we changed it," said one middle-aged customer.
Such decisive action would seem to be producing results. Recent statistics show that during the first three months of 2001 lock-picking break-ins fell by one-third over the same period last year. The development of advanced lock technology and numerous antipicking devices, such as alarms, are seen as the main reasons for that fall.