Apologize and Get Out of Jail

Last year I took an honors course on Japan. While we never discussed or directly explored the Japanese court system, the professor slipped out a tidbit of information that always struck me as interesting. She said that in Japan, if you sincerely apologize for your actions, you will receive a greatly reduced sentence. I've had a hard time finding any information to back this up, but I did come across this article which seems to substantiate the claim. Sheila Johnson explains that this forgiveness after an apology occurs throughout the culture. Can you imagine if we let Blagovich or Spitzer off because they apologized? Johnson says that the difference in this regard between our two cultures is that we live in a "guilt" society and Japan lives in a "shame" society. When the Japanese apologize, they feel extremely shameful and believe that they have dishonored their family. And since, in Japanese culture, your family includes every family member who came before you and all of your descendants, this is a pretty big deal.

The importance and weight of an apology is also felt in their business world. If an employee acts unethically, their supervisor or the head of the company will often take the blame for them, sometimes even quitting or suspending themselves.

It's hard for me to imagine what our culture would be like if a murderer apologized and was sentenced to only 10 years in prison. We would have murderers and rapists out walking the streets, which frightens me. I greatly prefer our system, where you are punished for your crime, and your apology carries little weight.