These people are pros (6/4投稿記事「先方はプロ」の翻訳）

Some people say that more than 80% of the reason why Tokyo was able to host the Olympic Games is thanks to Christel Takigawa's famous speech. Unmistakably, it was an amazing speech.  In her speech, she mentioned that "Japan is a safe country. Even if you lose your wallet, it will almost always come back to you." Certainly, Japan is a safe country. About 20 years ago, one of the wives of the researchers that came to my office from Europe on a long-term visit often lost her stuff. She lost her wallet five times in Japan, but each time her wallet was handed to the police and returned to her. Of course, the cash and cards inside remained untouched. There is no exaggeration in Takigawa's speech. 

However, this is not the case for large cities outside Japan. Such stories of chases and theft have no end. I lived abroad and had many business trips, so I took my own precautions. This meant not going out alone at night, especially downtown, and not carrying lots of cash. No flashy clothing. Only housing and hotels in safe places. 

I’ve always taken caution like this, but one time, on a business trip to the East Coast of the U.S., I got lost and took a wrong exit into a bad neighborhood. The windows of buildings were left broken. It was midday, but there was a group of young people on the side of the road staring at me. I realized that I was in danger. Needless to say, I left in a frenzy, looking for the highway entrance. 

One other time two friends from my school days came to visit me in Southern France, so we went out together for the night.  After dinner, we went walking downtown and were invited by a tout (already dangerous enough at this stage!) to enter a small bar, but one of my friends sensed that something was wrong and said, "This place is not safe, let's leave." Thank goodness for my friend with good intuition. 

Although I had scary moments, I have never once been a victim. Sometimes I get asked, "You’ve been abroad for such a long time, but you’ve never been a victim?" I would usually answer back with, "Maybe I was lucky, but these people are pros. They choose their targets. I guess they can tell who isn't rich."