Once again, Japan is taking advantage of the technological advances available to them. The country's government is already discussing about the development of a crime prevention system using artificial intelligence and big data, as reported by The Japan Times. Mami Kajita, developer of the data-analysis company Singular Perturbations Inc. says she hopes to "create a smartphone app for citizens in order to reduce the number of crimes, even if only slightly." Since street crime prediction has been successful in Europe and the United States, Kajita said that "We need to continue examining crime mechanisms unique to Japan." Kajita also reportedly researched on street crimes in Tokyo by studying the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's emails that entail cases like theft and molestation.

Kajita, who studied theoretical physics at university, lived in Italy when her husband, also a researcher, was transferred to the country, and often fell prey to local pickpockets. She realized that without the knowledge of local situations, people are vulnerable to crimes. She then came up with the idea of applying her research method of explaining natural phenomena in mathematical formula to crime-prevention efforts. Kajita paid attention to email information provided by the Metropolitan Police Department on molestation cases, thefts and suspicious people. Despite the limited amount of data, predictions mostly matched areas where crimes were actually committed.

The government and the police are discussing the idea of developing a computer system that can predict street crime by utilizing big data and artificial intelligence. They hope such a system will be able to show them where and how to take greater measures to prevent crime. Street crime prediction "has already achieved results in Europe and the United States," said Mami Kajita, who established the data-analysis company Singular Perturbations Inc. last year in hopes of developing a Japanese version of the methods used in the United States. In some parts of America, the police have ramped up patrols in areas where AI-based systems predicted crime was more likely to happen, achieving a reduction of 20 percent on average, Kajita said. A more cautionary tale comes from China, where the government is racing ahead to use big data and facial recognition technology to surveil the population.