Japan has a reputation for having a low crime rate, so much so that it is not uncommon for people to leave their bicycles unlocked when parked on the street or in parking garages. But despite the belief of many that leaving a bicycle is unsafe Japan does have bicycle thieves and hundreds of thousands of bicycles are reported stolen each year.
In 2013, according to police statistics, 305,033 bicycles were reported stolen. Osaka had the highest rate of bicycle theft with 4.65 bicycles stolen per 1000 residents, followed by Tokyo and Saitama. Cities with the lowest incidents of bicycle theft were Akita and Nagasaki with just 0.57 reported thefts per 1000 residents.
As registering your bicycle as a theft deterrent is compulsory for all bicycles purchased in Japan it would be great to see statistics from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police as to how many of these stolen bicycles were recovered and returned to their owners.
| Reported stolen bicycles in 2013 | Population (unit:1000) | Rate per 1000 residents | |
| Osaka | 41,191 | 8,856 | 4.65 |
| Tokyo | 50,859 | 13,230 | 3.84 |
| Saitama | 23,506 | 7,212 | 3.26 |
| Hyogo | 16,329 | 5,571 | 2.93 |
| Kyoto | 7,632 | 2,625 | 2.91 |
| Chiba | 17,791 | 6,195 | 2.87 |
| Fukuoka | 14,516 | 5,085 | 2.85 |
| Okayama | 5,026 | 1,936 | 2.60 |
| Shiga | 3,562 | 1,415 | 2.52 |
| Aichi | 17,832 | 7,427 | 2.40 |
| Kochi | 1,667 | 752 | 2.22 |
| Kanagawa | 19,900 | 9,067 | 2.19 |
| Mie | 3,810 | 1,840 | 2.07 |
| Saga | 1,702 | 843 | 2.02 |
| Miyazaki | 2,123 | 1,126 | 1.89 |
| Ehime | 2,654 | 1,415 | 1.88 |
| Gifu | 3,798 | 2,061 | 1.84 |
| Hiroshima | 5,074 | 2,848 | 1.78 |
| Tokushima | 1,363 | 776 | 1.76 |
| Nara | 2,364 | 1,390 | 1.70 |
| Wakayama | 1,664 | 988 | 1.68 |
| Kagawa | 1,658 | 989 | 1.68 |
| Shizuoka | 6,058 | 3,735 | 1.62 |
| Ibaraki | 4,751 | 2,943 | 1.61 |
| Miyagi | 3,722 | 2,325 | 1.60 |
| Tochigi | 3,130 | 1,992 | 1.57 |
| Yamaguchi | 2,215 | 1,431 | 1.55 |
| Tottori | 898 | 582 | 1.54 |
| Kumamoto | 2,711 | 1,807 | 1.50 |
| Ishikawa | 1,724 | 1,163 | 1.48 |
| Hokkaido | 7,965 | 5,460 | 1.46 |
| Gunma | 2,890 | 1,992 | 1.45 |
| Yamanashi | 1,223 | 852 | 1.44 |
| Niigata | 3,298 | 2,347 | 1.41 |
| Nagano | 2,854 | 2,132 | 1.34 |
| Kagoshima | 2,114 | 1,690 | 1.25 |
| Fukui | 996 | 799 | 1.25 |
| Toyama | 1,344 | 1,082 | 1.24 |
| Oita | 1,420 | 1,185 | 1.20 |
| Fukushima | 2,263 | 1,962 | 1.15 |
| Okinawa | 1,603 | 1,409 | 1.14 |
| Shimane | 778 | 707 | 1.10 |
| Iwate | 1,233 | 1,303 | 0.95 |
| Aomori | 1,267 | 1,350 | 0.94 |
| Yamagata | 971 | 1,152 | 0.84 |
| Akita | 758 | 1,063 | 0.71 |
| Nagasaki | 796 | 1,408 | 0.57 |
Table: Number of Stolen Bicycles by Prefecture in 2013, 2012
| 2013 | 2012 | |
| Total | 305,003 | 303,745 |
| Hokkaido | 7,965 | 8,810 |
| Aomori | 1,267 | 1,434 |
| Iwate | 1,233 | 1,442 |
| Miyagi | 3,722 | 3,837 |
| Akita | 758 | 844 |
| Yamagata | 971 | 909 |
| Fukushima | 2,263 | 2,410 |
| Tokyo | 50,859 | 53,184 |
| Ibaraki | 4,751 | 4,819 |
| Tochigi | 3,130 | 3,046 |
| Gunma | 2,890 | 2,806 |
| Saitama | 23,506 | 24,706 |
| Chiba | 17,791 | 18,890 |
| Kanagawa | 19,900 | 20,643 |
| Niigata | 3,298 | 3,256 |
| Yamanashi | 1,223 | 1,337 |
| Nagano | 2,854 | 3,109 |
| Shizuoka | 6,058 | 6,383 |
| Toyama | 1,344 | 1,419 |
| Ishikawa | 1,724 | 1,811 |
| Fukui | 996 | 965 |
| Gifu | 3,798 | 3,951 |
| Aichi | 17,832 | 18,823 |
| Mie | 3,810 | 4,363 |
| Shiga | 3,562 | 3,593 |
| Kyoto | 7,632 | 7,359 |
| Osaka | 41,191 | 30,191 |
| Hyogo | 16,329 | 15,930 |
| Nara | 2,364 | 2,514 |
| Wakayama | 1,664 | 1,760 |
| Tottori | 898 | 862 |
| Shimane | 778 | 835 |
| Okayama | 5,026 | 5,477 |
| Hiroshima | 5,074 | 5,307 |
| Yamaguchi | 2,215 | 2,234 |
| Tokushima | 1,363 | 1,496 |
| Kagawa | 1,658 | 1,652 |
| Ehime | 2,654 | 2,545 |
| Kochi | 1,667 | 1,736 |
| Fukuoka | 14,516 | 14,216 |
| Saga | 1,702 | 1,697 |
| Nagasaki | 796 | 881 |
| Kumamoto | 2,711 | 2,693 |
| Oita | 1,420 | 1,516 |
| Miyazaki | 2,123 | 2,220 |
| Kagoshima | 2,114 | 2,267 |
| Okinawa | 1,603 | 1,567 |
Source: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
