Japanese police took action against more pensioners than juveniles in the first six months of the year, underlining the dramatic changes in a society that is aging rapidly. A total of 23,656 people aged 65 or older were questioned in connection with a crime in the first half of 2015, according to the National Police Agency. In the same period, 19,670 youths between the ages of 14 and 19 were the subject of a police investigation. The number of young people coming to the attention of the police declined more than 15 percent, while the number of elderly getting into trouble with the law was up by 622 cases, or 2.7 percent. A growing proportion of the crimes by elderly perpetrators were listed as “violent” by police, with the total rising 10.8 percent on the previous year. Murders and robberies were up 11.8 percent, the police said. Crimes by elderly people appear to reflect the problems that beset Japanese society at the moment, including a widening gap between rich and poor.
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