Reid says, "And this made a fundamental difference in the way we led our lives," (Reid 20). .
Japan's crime statistics clearly demonstrate why the Reid family felt so safe. Compared to the United States, the major crimes committed in Japan are far less. For example, in 1996, per 100,000 people, the United States had 7.53 murders and Japan had 0.97; the United States had 255.8 robberies while Japan had only 1.75; the United States had 1,099 burglaries and Japan had 187 (Reid 23). These numbers demonstrate clearly that the United States statistics on crime are way more then double that of Japan. There is no wonder the Reid family felt so safe compared to their home in America. But what is even more astonishing is that the Japanese achieve these low levels of crime without police-state tactics. By looking at statistics you would think that the Japan is unprepared to fight crime. Compared to the United States the country has one-third as many police, one-fifth as many judges, on twentieth as many jail cells. The obvious question here seems to be, "how do they do it?" Well, the Japanese believe that to build a safe and civil society you have to start long before the police get involved.
Confucius was born in 551 B.C. a time of instability and immorality in the Middle Kingdom. This was a time when the central government had lost control and the respected empire of China had been reduced to a collection of warring states. Confucius studied the ancient history of China and accurately found that this was not the first era of civil war in the Middle Kingdom. He discovered that throughout the history of the country there was a contrast between long periods of peace and prosperity and the treacherous chaos he saw in his lifetime (Reid 92-93). The instability of the time caused Confucius such great anguish that he set out to find the ethical way that would bring China back to its days of peace and prosperity.