The number of Penal Code offenses reported to the police in 1998 reached a record high of 2,690,267 for the postwar era. The police cleared 1,006,804 offenses. Japan had a lower rate of homicide and a higher homicide clearance rate than did the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. The public prosecutors’ office disposed of 2,120,057 offenders in 1998, including 4.9 percent prosecuted for formal trial, 48.3 percent prosecuted for summary proceedings, and 31.2 percent for whom prosecution was suspended. The average daily population of penal institutions was 51,896 in 1998, an increase of 3.8 percent over the previous year. About 50 percent of prisoners released from prison in 1993 were readmitted within 5 years. The parole rate was 58.2 percent in 1998. The number of juvenile Penal Code offenders cleared by police started to increase after 1996 and amounted to 221,410 offenders in 1998. Larceny was the offense for 65.8 percent of the juvenile offenders other than traffic offenders. Tables, figures, and list of abbreviations