Not surprise really really the education system here needs to be revamped. But this happens all the time as other countries improve their condition international students have a broader rang of countries to chose from. People rarely like to get out their neck of the woods. Japan is safer than the US but there are places in the US that are safe. I live in area where there is hardly any crime. But i can wholeheartedly see why a lot of Japanese feel this way. Give 5 or 10 years and things will be different it could be the UK that more students go too or Asia. Arab students dropped to all time low over the last couple of years for obvious reasons but now its back up again.
To be fair i can name several countries iv been too where i felt more unsafe than being in the US. Any westerner or Asian want to go hang out in South Africa for a while? make sure your family has enough money to pay the ransom.
I thought the other article
Shiftless apathy to the victims makes all Japanese guilty for the past was a nice read too although i disagree with some the contents i agree with a little bit of it too.