Japan fears its becoming a base for hackers. 

[Daily Yomiuri On-Line] (4.29.98) To fill in legal loopholes 
that have caused an increase in unauthorized computer access, 
the National Police Agency has set up a group of experts to 
study how to prevent Internet crimes.

[snip...]
 
The Japan Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center 
has been studying cases of unauthorized access through the Net, 
and found a total of 644 from the time of the center's 
establishment in October 1996 to last month.
 
Meanwhile, police uncovered 101 high-tech crimes in 1997, 
three times as many as in the previous year.
 
The NPA hopes to implement laws prohibiting and penalizing 
unauthorized access through the computer network.