Dangerous but Safe:
The Things That Scare You and Shouldn't

It's the question that comes up almost every time a friend tells me they're planning a trip to Japan: isn't it risky, with the earthquakes, the typhoons, all of that? The honest answer is yes — and not really. Let me explain.

The Only Real Danger

There's a line Bilbo says to Frodo, right at the start of The Fellowship of the Ring, that comes back to me often. The parallel has always struck me as oddly accurate. I stepped foot in Japan for the first time with almost no idea what awaited me — and I never really left.

So yes, there is a real risk in visiting this country. It's just probably not the one you're thinking of.

The Real Face of the Risk

Japan sits on one of the most geologically unstable archipelagos on Earth. Earthquakes, typhoons, active volcanoes — zero risk simply doesn't exist here. The earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture this past July, and the 2011 disaster in the Tōhoku region before it, are reminders — ones no anecdote should ever soften — that these events carry a real human cost, and my thoughts go out to everyone still dealing with the aftermath.

The Japanese themselves live with this awareness daily, sometimes just a few dozen kilometres from a still-active volcano. And yet what strikes most newcomers walking the streets of Tokyo is a sense of safety that can feel almost disorienting.

In March 2011, in the days right after Fukushima, I'll admit I wasn't quite this composed — but that's a story for another time.

A Kind of Safety You Can Feel

Japan remains one of the safest countries in the world in terms of crime — plenty of real factors feed into that (strict gun control, high conviction rates, a dense neighbourhood koban policing system), but my own theory has always leaned toward something more cultural: harmony, Wa — a concept, not an onomatopoeia — running deeper here than rigid rule-following ever could.

In practice, that means you can leave your bag or your phone on a café table and not worry about finding it gone when you come back. That single detail changes how it feels to move through a city.

A Different Kind of Risk: Street Touts & Kabukichō Scams

If there's one thing that actually deserves your caution, it isn't a typhoon or a tremor — it's a stranger on the street offering you a free drink.

In my early years here, still naive enough to believe every person I met in Japan was automatically the kindest, most honest soul on Earth, I was occasionally caught by what's known as a kyakuhiki — a street tout offering a free drink or an easy reservation for your group at "their" izakaya. It sounds convenient. It sometimes isn't: some of these places quietly run inflated table charges (a fee called otoshi, technically legal but rarely explained upfront) or menus priced well above the market rate.

As I mentioned in an earlier essay on how Japan can make you forget what money even means, it's easy to stop questioning prices here. I once walked away from one of these evenings with a bill considerably heavier than I'd planned for.

It's a different game entirely in the more edgy pockets of Kabukichō (more on that in an upcoming piece) — where following the wrong tout can get genuinely expensive, and it's not only tourists who get caught out. Bills running into the hundreds, sometimes thousands of euros, aren't rare stories, and the legal protections around it aren't always as strong as you'd hope.

A Few Rules Worth Keeping in Mind

Zero risk doesn't exist — not for an earthquake on the top floor of a building, not for a typhoon in full swing. But a few simple rules go a long way:

• Don't attempt Mount Fuji outside the official climbing season — the trails are closed the rest of the year for good reason.
• Avoid swimming at certain beaches in late August and early September — it's peak jellyfish season along parts of the coast.
• Follow basic etiquette: no jaywalking, no phone calls or eating on the train.
• Be wary of street touts offering free drinks or "easy" izakaya reservations, especially around nightlife districts.
• Follow official guidance during an earthquake or typhoon alert — it exists, it's taken seriously, and it works.

Keep these in mind and there's little chance your trip will go wrong. The only real risk, in the end, might be that you never want to leave.