When I first traveled and studied property in Japan, I thought this was primarily a respect for law and a fear of getting caught in such a close-knit and crowded country. You pointed out the oppressive conditions in Japanese prisons, but I have come to realize that there is much more to it. The prison conditions may be a deterrent, but I wonder if those in Japanese prisons take much notice of how their lives are observed and controlled. I say this since I doubt if many American property owners take much notice of their own compromised freedoms. Now this sounds like hyperbole, but after moving to Japan it took me some time to fully appreciate the differences, and now the US situation seems unacceptably oppressive to me.

"Kelo" would be unthinkable here -- That is, state mandated transfer of land from one private owner to another for the sake of development. The exercise of eminent domain rights even for public projects is a rarity. New airports are built on reclaimed coastal land, highways are elevated and often follow the path of a river. But mostly property is bought, concessions are made, community pressure is brought to bear, all without resort to condemnation and eviction. The ultimate right of the property owner is maintained.

There is also a marked lack of zoning laws in Japan. I live in a neighborhood of single family homes and one of my neighbors runs a metal shop out of his garage. That kind of thing would be unthinkable in my former home in the Silicon Valley, yet some of the Valley's biggest success stories (HP, Apple) came out of garages at a time when the US homeowner had less regulation and more freedom to use his property without worrying about community regulations, ordinances, state EPA laws, Federal OSHA laws etc. This is not to say that the Japanese property owner is free to be a nuisance to his neighbors, but he must actually be a nuisance before the state gets involved. This is what brought to my mind the comparison between the Japanese prisoners and US homeowners -- both are regulated and monitored in their every move with the assumption that given a chance they will do harm.

Another example: Many Japanese cities are plagued by ancient narrow streets which make automotive access all but impossible. In Nakano-ku (Tokyo) where I live, the city attempts to buy narrow strips of land to widen certain access roads. In many places you can see a small green plaque by the curb where it has been moved 150mm or 200mm and the road widened in front of a single house. The plaque acknowledges the owners contribution to this effort. Of course, this process is exceptionally slow but just like the children filling out forms for a lost coin it is the only legitimate standard if you have not compromised your respect for property.