The relationship between crime and modernization has been one of the most controversial issues in the field of sociology. The "Modernization" perspective argues that rapid socioeconomic changes weaken the social ties of local community, create a space of anonymity, and then lead to increasing crime rates. Has crime really become increasingly prevalent along with the modernization process? Has the impact of modernization on crime extended differently depending on the types of crimes? This study examines variation and change of violent and property crime rates among the 50 local municipalities in Shiga Prefecture both during and after the high growth period of the Japanese economy. For the analyses of crime data, time series data comparison (sequential line graph), crime distribution maps of municipalities, and multiple regression analysis are employed. The results include the following : Crime trends of Shiga Prefecture have been roughly similar to national trends ; Violent crime rates have declined dramatically in the last three decades while property crime rates have gradually increased in the same period ; Population factors such as "day/night population ratio" or "residential mobility" are regarded as important to predict the prevalence of crime, especially property crime in the prefecture. Lastly, the implications of these findings for further studies are briefly discussed.