Criminal offenses, including traffic-related offenses, have been consistently increasing since 1975, leading in 1996 to the greatest number of crimes in the postwar period (2,466,000). Of these crimes, 64.4 percent were theft offenses, and traffic- related cases were 26.5 percent. Japan has seen the commission of a number of heinous offenses previously unseen in the country: indiscriminate mass murder and robbery and homicide by firearms against strangers. The number of murders and robberies with firearms against financial institutions has been increasing, suggesting that handgun possession has increased in Japan. The number of drug offenses has also been increasing in recent years, and drug abuse has become a serious social issue. Organized crime is increasingly involved in drug trafficking, but there has been a decline in violence among organized criminal groups following the enactment of the Law for Preventing Gangsters Unlawful Actions. Another problem area is the increase in immigration offenses. Juvenile offenses have stabilized at approximately 200,000 annually, after the peak of 300,000 in 1985; however, heinous offenses by juveniles, such as homicide and robbery, have increased. In addition to crime data, this report provides data on prosecutions, trials, inmate populations, and rehabilitation efforts. Extensive tables and figures are appended.