[Nyororin]

While cultural aspects are a large part of it - there are other reasons why people don`t break the law in Japan.

Seriously though, you have to do a LOT to end up in that sort of situation. You need to seriously make a lot of people very very angry. It isn`t like they walk around picking up jaywalkers and leaving them to rot in jail. It is very easy to avoid this - Japanese law doesn`t go out of it`s way to interfere in people`s lives.

Keep in mind that in Japan, I believe that the figure for conviction is something like 98~99%. If you are taken into custody, you`re very very likely to be guilty. Taking someone into custody occurs at a different stage in the process. In the US, it seems that just picking someone up and holding them in custody is a first step - in Japan, it is a few steps down the line. It is at the stage where they have enough against you to say with virtually no doubt that you`re guilty - but are sorting out the charges.