Over more than a half century the survey has recorded around 24,000 children as missing. The obvious question for many is what became of these youngsters? In most cases their fates remain a mystery.
The average value for Japan during that period was 0.2 kidnappings per 100,000 people with a minimum of 0.1 kidnappings per 100,000 people in 2008 and a maximum of 0.3 kidnappings per 100,000 people in 2004. The latest value from 2016 is 0.2 kidnappings per 100,000 people.
It has been estimated that 100,000 Japanese people disappear annually. However, jouhatsu may be underreported in the official numbers. In 2015, Japan's National Police Agency had registered 82,000 missing persons, and 80,000 were found by the end of the year.
Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., 20-month-old son of the famous aviator and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was kidnapped about 9:00 p.m., on March 1, 1932, from the nursery on the second floor of the Lindbergh home near Hopewell, New Jersey.
In Japan, it's pretty normal to see young children running errands and taking the subway alone without a parent in sight.
Traveling with small children to a foreign country can be intimidating. Luckily, Japan is a destination that is easy and safe to explore with kids—thanks to the well-thought-out infrastructure and kids-friendly amenities.
Grade progression: Japanese students cannot be held back. Every student can progress to the next grade regardless of their attendance or grades. The only test scores that truly matter are the high school and university entrance exams.
in crime and criminal justice
Each year, around 30,000 people are reported missing in Australia—one person every 18 minutes. The 30,000 people exceed the total number of victims, reported to police for homicide, sexual assault, and unarmed robbery combined.
The United States has what may be the world's highest number of missing persons. According to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person and Unidentified Person Files for the 2021 operational year, 521,705 people were reported missing in 2021.
In Australia, an estimated 20,000 children are reported missing every year. Australian Federal Police, National Coordination Centre.
There are currently about 2,600 long-term missing persons cases in Australia and experts estimate there are some 500 unidentified human remains archived around the country.
Junko Furuta (古田 順子, Furuta Junko) was a Japanese high school student who was abducted, raped, tortured and then subsequently murdered. Her case was called the "concrete-encased high school girl murder case" (女子高生コンクリート詰め殺人事件), due to her body being discovered in a concrete drum.
There is no act, law or local ordinance that criminalizes runaway children in Japan.
Japan's high cost of living, limited space and lack of child care support in cities make it difficult to raise children, meaning fewer couples are having kids.
Kidnapping rate - Country rankings
The average for 2017 based on 65 countries was 1.8 kidnappings per 100,000 people. The highest value was in Belgium: 10.3 kidnappings per 100,000 people and the lowest value was in Bermuda: 0 kidnappings per 100,000 people. The indicator is available from 2003 to 2017.
Japan is facing one of the world's major demographic crises, with the number of annual births dipping below 800,000 for the first time in 2022. The current birth rate of 1.34 is well below the 2.07 necessary to keep the population stable, meaning Japan's population could drop from 125 million to 88 million by 2065.
Countries with the highest rates
In 2018 the UN found Pakistan and England had the highest amount of kidnappings while New Zealand had the highest rate among the 70 countries for which data is available.
Attempted abductions most often occur on the street while children are playing, walking, or riding bikes. Younger children are more likely to be playing or walking with a parent or an adult whereas school-age children are more likely to be walking alone or with peers.
Child abductions
As of 2013, an estimated 70,000 children were kidnapped in China every year, although the Chinese government reported fewer than 10,000 kidnappings. According to the United States Department of State, estimates are closer to 20,000.
A four-year-old girl allegedly abducted from her family's tent in remote Western Australia 19 days ago has been found alive. Cleo Smith was found by police in a private home around 30 miles from the campsite and has been reunited with her parents, Western Australia police said in a statement.
“Sadly, they're not alone in their experience, in 2021, over 34,000 missing persons' reports in Australia related to children under 18.
William Tyrrell (born 26 June 2011) is an Australian boy who disappeared at the age of three from Kendall, New South Wales, on 12 September 2014. He had been playing at his foster grandmother's house with his sister, and was wearing a Spider-Man suit at the time of his disappearance.
In the mid-1980s, rural parents were allowed to have a second child if the first was a daughter. It also allowed exceptions for some other groups, including ethnic minorities. In 2015, the government removed all remaining one-child limits, establishing a two-child limit.
Japanese labour policies were changed in April 2013 to make contract employment the norm in universities. Academics are currently employed on a contract with the right to an extension to open-ended or permanent status after 10 years.
A two-child policy is a government-imposed limit of two children allowed per family or the payment of government subsidies only to the first two children.