The transition from Heisei to Reiwa came at a relatively peaceful time, with the nation's crime rate falling to a postwar low in 2018, an annual white paper released Friday by the Justice Ministry has shown.
But the paper also said the 30-year Heisei Era saw a rise in domestic violence, child abuse and — amid a rapidly graying population — crime by the elderly.
The total number of criminal acts committed in 2018 dropped to 817,338, declining for the 16th consecutive year. The figure is roughly a quarter of the number logged in the peak year of 2002, the report said.