Apparently in Japan, their Apple Stores just display all their devices without any security tags on them since it’s built within a trust system where an individual is expected to not shoplift (due to shaming culture) as public face and reputation matters to them along with heaps of CCTV and stricter laws. However, try doing the same thing in New York or Seattle and see what happens…
They can both be true, for example look into the lost and found system in Japan. Japan culture is like what OP says, but yeah it’s fucked up in other ways, that has no bearing on whether they treat stealing differently.