Crime Aichi records highest car theft rate in Japan

"A car can be started in about two minutes. The places where vehicles are most often stolen are detached homes—ordinary houses where cars are parked outside," a police officer said. Auto theft cases in Aichi have been trending upward in recent years, surpassing 1,000 incidents last year to rank worst in the country. Among the most frequently targeted vehicles is the Land Cruiser, which accounts for about 40 percent of theft cases, according to authorities. A Nagoya man whose Land Cruiser was stolen in January said, "I never thought it would happen to me. It was hard to believe it had been stolen. For a week after it happened, I couldn't sleep." The vehicle had been a cherished possession he had admired since his twenties and had been delivered only about two years earlier. To prevent theft, police stress the importance of layering security measures rather than relying on just one.

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