Japan’s Lowest Crime Rate? Iwate, 2.98 per 1,000 (2026 Data)

In 2025, the lowest crime rate among Japan’s 47 prefectures was 2.98 per 1,000 residents, in Iwate. Akita followed at 3.00, and the highest was Osaka at 9.60. Police nationwide recorded 774,142 Penal Code offences over the year, an average of about one every 41 seconds. The distance between Iwate at the bottom and Osaka at the top is about 3.2 times.

This article combines prefecture level offence counts from the National Police Agency’s Criminal Statistics (January to December 2025, final figures) with population figures from the 2025 Population Census, Preliminary Tabulation. The editorial team calculated the rate per 1,000 residents for all 47 prefectures and ranked them. The charts also show how the order changes depending on whether counts or rates are used.

EVIDENCE / JAPAN IN DATA CONCLUSION 2026.07

Which prefecture has the lowest crime rate in Japan?

Iwate, at 2.98 per 1,000 residents. Akita follows at 3.00, and Osaka, the highest at 9.60, is about 3.2 times Iwate.

LOWEST RATE: IWATE (2025, PER 1,000) 2.98per 1,000 3,351 offences ÷ 1,125,502 residents × 1,000. Only 0.02 below Akita, second at 3.00.

NATIONAL AVERAGE 6.29 774,142 offences recorded, up 4.9% from 2024

HIGHEST: OSAKA 9.60 84,107 offences / 8,764,578 residents

HIGHEST ÷ LOWEST 3.2x 9.60 ÷ 2.98 = 3.22

Researched and edited by Kaede, Data Editor, Japan in Data. Based in Saitama, Japan. Figures are current as of publication. Statistics, rules and services can change, so please check the official sources for the latest information.

Iwate Has the Lowest Rate: All 47 Prefectures Mapped

The lowest 2025 crime rate per 1,000 residents was 2.98 in Iwate, just 0.02 below Akita at 3.00. Yamagata (3.21), Nagasaki (3.42) and Shimane (3.45) come next. The lower end is filled by prefectures in Tohoku, the San’in coast and western Kyushu. On the tile map, a pale band runs from Tohoku down the Sea of Japan coast.

At the other end, Osaka stands at 9.60, followed by Gunma at 8.18 and by Fukuoka and Aichi at 7.59. The exact gap between Iwate and Akita is 0.024, small enough that the order could swap when the preliminary population is replaced by the final census count. This article therefore reports the top position together with the fact that it is a very narrow margin.

All 47 Prefectures Ranked: Switch by Region

The table below lists all 47 prefectures in order of crime rate, from the lowest upward. Each row shows the rank, the rate, the recorded offence count and the population together. The tabs switch the view to regional blocks, from Hokkaido and Tohoku through to Kyushu and Okinawa.

All JapanHokkaido and TohokuKantoChubuKinkiChugoku and ShikokuKyushu and Okinawa

All 47 prefectures by crime rate, 2025 (lowest first)

Rank	Prefecture	Rate	Offences	Population
1	Iwate	2.98	3,351	1,125,502
2	Akita	3.00	2,647	882,100
3	Yamagata	3.21	3,191	993,127
4	Nagasaki	3.42	4,209	1,232,190
5	Shimane	3.45	2,173	629,460
6	Oita	3.85	4,151	1,076,875
7	Yamaguchi	3.89	4,921	1,264,006
8	Aomori	4.09	4,665	1,140,395
9	Nagano	4.14	8,085	1,954,950
10	Yamanashi	4.22	3,292	779,912
11	Kumamoto	4.49	7,529	1,678,090
12	Fukui	4.49	3,276	729,386
13	Wakayama	4.57	3,946	864,262
14	Miyazaki	4.63	4,717	1,018,904
15	Niigata	4.69	9,707	2,068,476
16	Tokushima	4.78	3,231	675,489
17	Hokkaido	4.84	24,150	4,985,419
18	Nara	4.94	6,265	1,269,180
19	Ishikawa	4.94	5,376	1,088,221
20	Kyoto	4.95	12,398	2,502,747
21	Miyagi	5.06	11,260	2,227,240
22	Fukushima	5.07	8,674	1,711,937
23	Shizuoka	5.15	17,856	3,468,845
24	Saga	5.33	4,162	781,214
25	Toyama	5.41	5,337	985,675
26	Kanagawa	5.44	50,059	9,193,657
27	Hiroshima	5.49	14,735	2,683,399
28	Ehime	5.51	6,947	1,260,088
29	Kagoshima	5.58	8,441	1,512,969
30	Kochi	5.64	3,630	643,437
31	Okayama	5.68	10,267	1,808,664
32	Tottori	5.81	3,045	523,732
33	Shiga	6.23	8,669	1,392,439
34	Mie	6.31	10,692	1,694,896
35	Chiba	6.39	39,976	6,258,512
36	Gifu	6.79	12,847	1,891,489
37	Tochigi	6.85	12,780	1,864,833
38	Ibaraki	6.90	19,273	2,791,207
39	Tokyo	6.97	99,349	14,246,219
40	Kagawa	6.98	6,334	907,725
41	Okinawa	7.27	10,677	1,468,220
42	Saitama	7.34	53,471	7,287,169
43	Hyogo	7.49	39,899	5,323,825
44	Aichi	7.59	56,515	7,449,403
45	Fukuoka	7.59	38,577	5,081,879
46	Gunma	8.18	15,283	1,867,582
47	Osaka	9.60	84,107	8,764,578

Rank	Prefecture	Rate	Offences	Population
1	Iwate	2.98	3,351	1,125,502
2	Akita	3.00	2,647	882,100
3	Yamagata	3.21	3,191	993,127
8	Aomori	4.09	4,665	1,140,395
17	Hokkaido	4.84	24,150	4,985,419
21	Miyagi	5.06	11,260	2,227,240
22	Fukushima	5.07	8,674	1,711,937

Rank	Prefecture	Rate	Offences	Population
26	Kanagawa	5.44	50,059	9,193,657
35	Chiba	6.39	39,976	6,258,512
37	Tochigi	6.85	12,780	1,864,833
38	Ibaraki	6.90	19,273	2,791,207
39	Tokyo	6.97	99,349	14,246,219
42	Saitama	7.34	53,471	7,287,169
46	Gunma	8.18	15,283	1,867,582

Rank	Prefecture	Rate	Offences	Population
9	Nagano	4.14	8,085	1,954,950
10	Yamanashi	4.22	3,292	779,912
12	Fukui	4.49	3,276	729,386
15	Niigata	4.69	9,707	2,068,476
19	Ishikawa	4.94	5,376	1,088,221
23	Shizuoka	5.15	17,856	3,468,845
25	Toyama	5.41	5,337	985,675
36	Gifu	6.79	12,847	1,891,489
44	Aichi	7.59	56,515	7,449,403

Rank	Prefecture	Rate	Offences	Population
13	Wakayama	4.57	3,946	864,262
18	Nara	4.94	6,265	1,269,180
20	Kyoto	4.95	12,398	2,502,747
33	Shiga	6.23	8,669	1,392,439
34	Mie	6.31	10,692	1,694,896
43	Hyogo	7.49	39,899	5,323,825
47	Osaka	9.60	84,107	8,764,578

Rank	Prefecture	Rate	Offences	Population
5	Shimane	3.45	2,173	629,460
7	Yamaguchi	3.89	4,921	1,264,006
16	Tokushima	4.78	3,231	675,489
27	Hiroshima	5.49	14,735	2,683,399
28	Ehime	5.51	6,947	1,260,088
30	Kochi	5.64	3,630	643,437
31	Okayama	5.68	10,267	1,808,664
32	Tottori	5.81	3,045	523,732
40	Kagawa	6.98	6,334	907,725

Rank	Prefecture	Rate	Offences	Population
4	Nagasaki	3.42	4,209	1,232,190
6	Oita	3.85	4,151	1,076,875
11	Kumamoto	4.49	7,529	1,678,090
14	Miyazaki	4.63	4,717	1,018,904
24	Saga	5.33	4,162	781,214
29	Kagoshima	5.58	8,441	1,512,969
41	Okinawa	7.27	10,677	1,468,220
45	Fukuoka	7.59	38,577	5,081,879

Aichi and Fukuoka both display 7.59. On the exact figures Fukuoka is slightly higher, so counting from the lowest rate Aichi is placed 44th and Fukuoka 45th. Reading down the offence column also shows that the rate order and the size of the count do not line up.

Counts and Rates Give Different Leaders: Tokyo, Osaka, Gunma, Iwate

Tokyo recorded the largest number of offences, 99,349, but its rate of 6.97 places it 39th counting from the lowest, or 9th counting from the highest. Gunma, 11th by count with 15,283 offences, moves to second from the top at 8.18. Whether the measure is counts or rates, the names at the top change substantially.

Osaka sits near the top on both measures, second by count and highest by rate. Iwate sits at the low end on both, third from the bottom by count and lowest by rate. Because counts track population size so directly, comparing regions usually starts from the rate per resident. That is why the ranking in this article is built on rates.

Where the Low and High Prefectures Cluster: Distribution by Region

The ten lowest are four Tohoku prefectures (Iwate, Akita, Yamagata, Aomori), two in the Chugoku region (Shimane, Yamaguchi), two in Kyushu (Nagasaki, Oita) and two inland Chubu prefectures (Nagano, Yamanashi). The low end is concentrated in Tohoku, the San’in coast, western Kyushu and inland Chubu. The ten highest combine the three metropolitan areas (Osaka, Aichi, Hyogo, Saitama, Tokyo) with northern Kanto (Gunma, Ibaraki) and with Fukuoka, Okinawa and Kagawa.

In the regional distribution, the Kanto and Kinki ranges sit to the right, on the higher side, while Tohoku and Chugoku and Shikoku sit to the left. In northern Kanto, Gunma at 8.18, Ibaraki at 6.90 and Tochigi at 6.85 all came in above the national figure of 6.29. The lowest in Kanto is Kanagawa at 5.44, and no Kanto prefecture is near the level of Iwate or Akita.

Is Crime Rising Nationwide? Four Straight Years of Increase

Recorded Penal Code offences fell to 568,148 in 2021, the lowest figure of the postwar era, then rose for four consecutive years to 774,142 in 2025. That is 36,463 more than the previous year, an increase of 4.9%. The 2025 total stands about 3.4% above the pre-pandemic 2019 figure of 748,559.

According to the National Police Agency’s Crime Situation in 2025, intellectual offences and moral offences account for much of the growth since 2019, while larceny, which makes up most of the total, has not returned to its 2019 level. The prefecture ranking in this article is a single cross section of 2025, taken during this rise from the postwar low.

How to Read These Figures: Three Things Behind the Numbers

First, recorded offences are the cases police registered through reports and arrests, which is not the same as every crime committed. Second, the denominator is the nighttime resident population, so prefectures that take in commuters, students and visitors during the day tend to show higher rates. Tokyo’s rate of 6.97 is understood to carry that day and night population difference.

Third, the denominator is the preliminary tabulation of the 2025 Population Census, with the final figures due by September 2026. Narrow gaps such as Iwate at 2.98 and Akita at 3.00 could reverse once the final figures replace them. The per capita figures published in the National Police Agency’s Crime Situation in 2025 use the population as of October 1, 2024, a different denominator from the rates calculated here.

Kaede’s Summary: Clusters Matter More Than Positions

The answer to the question of which prefecture has the lowest crime rate is Iwate, at 2.98. That figure is one cross section, calculated by the editorial team from final offence counts and a preliminary population. The picture changes with the measure chosen and with the year of the denominator. The observations from the charts follow.

Taken together, the three observations suggest how this ranking can be used. The regional clustering at each end, and the way counts and rates change the picture, carry more than the positions themselves. The same reading carries over to other years and to municipal level data. Watching the annual change as a fixed observation point, while keeping the nature of the figures in mind, is how I approach a ranking of this kind.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How is the crime rate calculated?

Prefecture level Penal Code offence counts from Table 3 of the National Police Agency’s Criminal Statistics (January to December 2025, final figures) are divided by the population as of October 1, 2025 from the 2025 Population Census, Preliminary Tabulation, then multiplied by 1,000. For Iwate that is 3,351 ÷ 1,125,502 × 1,000 = 2.98. The denominator is preliminary, so narrow gaps may reorder once the final figures appear.

Q2. Does a low crime rate mean the prefecture is safe?

That does not follow directly. Recorded offences are the cases police registered, not the true incidence. Because the denominator is the resident population, prefectures with large daytime populations tend to show higher rates. This article sets out only the observation that rates are lower or higher; it does not assess prefectures as safe or dangerous. Anyone using the figures for a housing decision may want to read them alongside the breakdown by offence type and municipal level data.

Q3. Is municipal level data available for my prefecture?

Many prefectural police forces publish recorded offence counts for each city, town and village within their prefecture, and those releases are the primary source for municipal level rates. Japan in Data currently covers this ranking at the national level, and municipal breakdowns are planned as the series expands.

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