National Public Radio in the United States reported on a fascinating phenomenon in Japanese society that has been increasingly discussed in recent years: Senior citizens in Japan are committing crimes at increasing rates. The rate at which Japanese over the age of 65 have been arrested for mostly petty crimes has grown from 80 per 100,000 residents from 1995 to 2005 to a rate of 162 per 100,000 residents in the decade ending in 2015, the report notes. Fifty-nine percent of these crimes, per 2012 data from the National Police Agency, involved shoplifting.
Of course, given Japan's overall demographic picture as one of the oldest countries in the world, aging faster with a declining birthrate, the proportion of the country as a whole that is over 65 has grown during the same time.
There's an interesting economic story embedded in this odd trend of increasing crime rates among the elderly in Japan — a country not known for being especially prone to criminal activity. As the article notes, there are several possible explanations for why this phenomenon is occurring.