Police are increasingly opting not to release names of crime victims, giving rise to fears that criminal cases will become opaque, facts will become obscure and the validity of evidence in doubt.
"If police have concealed investigation mistakes, no one can pursue it (if no one is named)," as one crime victim put it.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet unveiled a basic plan in late December pertaining to crime victims that effectively allows police to withhold their names.