The study found that the level of crime rates has not always been lower in Japan than in other industrialized countries. Japan's low-crime reputation is a relatively recent development that began in the late 1960's. Japanese crime patterns are, in fact, consistent with those of other advanced countries in that there is a small proportion of violent crimes, with property crimes predominating. While Japan's rate of homicide is low compared with other Western societies, Japan's rate of unexpected deaths, which encompasses homicides, traffic accidents, industrial accidents, and suicides, is near the median among the industrial societies selected for this comparative analysis. 8 figures, 5 tables, 10 notes, and 22 references