Job Discussion Forums

[Strum]

Does anyone know what things are like inside of a Japanese prison compared to a Western country? I had heard that in the Japanese justice system a person's lawyer can declare them guilty while hired to defend them, or some such.

[Quibby84]

I was watching a Japan educational video and the biggest thing that I thought different from the prisons in the United States is the fact that they teach you a trade while in jail (at least the prison on the video did). So that when you get out of jail you can go get a job. The do not do that in the US. In fact a guy (a guy who also did a show where he ate fast food for 30 days) did a show where he lived in jail for 6 weeks. He said that all they did was walk around and hang out...there was NOTHING to do, no work, nothing, they could just hang out and watch tv. Also he said that the food was disgusting.

[Sweetsee]

Unlike their western counter-parts, Japanese prison warders have total control over the prison population through the use of stict guidelines regarding behavior. Inmates are not permitted to speak with others and there are acceptable and unacceptable ways of doing everything; how to sit, sleep, eat and so on. Deviant behavior is discouraged through the use of physically restricting devices such as "the belt" and "the box".

[JimDunlop2]

[Glenski]

Let me add to Jim's post. Sorry for the length. I believe Time magazine and/or Newsweek magazine also had an article or two on Japanese prisons, so you could actually see the inside.

Information about Japanese criminal law is available in English at the National Police Agency (NPA) web site at http://www.npa.go.jp/.

CRIMINAL PENALTIES
http://travel.state.gov/japan.html

http://www.hrw.org/advocacy/prisons/asia.htm

The following are links to information relating to prisons in Japan:
 Kevin Heldman, "Brutality by Design," APBNews.com, December 9, 1999
 Amnesty International, "Japan: Abusive Punishments in Japanese Prisons," June 1998
 Amnesty International, Ill-Treatment of Foreigners in Detention (ASA 22/09/97, November 1997)
 "Is prison discipline going too far?" Japan Times, February 1996
 Human Rights Watch, Prison Conditions in Japan (1995)
 Center for Prisoners' Rights (in Japanese)

Firsthand experience of Fuchu Prison (Terrance Sheard)
http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-159095.html

http://www.phaseloop.com/foreignprisoners/prison-japan.html
Amnesty International reports on alleged ill-treatment of foreign prisoners, and alleged false arrests followed by poor prison treatment.

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/eap/709.htm
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000

http://www.marcus-clark.com/japan/japan-ab-punish.htm
[Extract from preface, Internal Regulations for Prisoners in Fuchu Prison] ]
Japan's Prison Law dates back to 1908 and is still in force with minor amendments. It has been supplemented by an array of administrative regulations and ordinances which have been drawn up by the Ministry of Justice. While major legislation is publicly available, many other regulations have not been made public. Moreover, governors of individual prisons are given wide discretion to implement their own internal rules to regulate the day- to-day running of the prison. These rules are kept secret, ostensibly on the grounds that if made public, they would jeopardise the security of the institution concerned.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
- Do not reveal names and addresses of your family to fellow inmates.
- While walking avoid folding your arms or hands, putting your hands in your pockets....waving your shoulders intentionally or dragging your shoes....
- Always obey any instructions given by prison officers even if this booklet has not referred to the matter.

ROOM REGULATIONS
- Do not wash your head or body in your room at your own will. Do not wash clothes without permission.
- Do not lie down in your room whenever you please. Avoid leaning against the bedding or sitting on it.
- Your sitting position in the room should be as designated in the chart in your room.
In a single room, sit facing the table while working, taking meals or during leisure hours. During bed time, you can sit on the bed.
Those under punishment should sit on the stool at the designated place in the correct position.

WORK REGULATIONS
- You are not allowed to leave your work area without permission. Idle talk is prohibited. Raise your hand to obtain permission from your factory guard beforehand when you have to leave your work area.
- When you go to the toilet you shall take a permission tag with you, and hang it in a fixed place. Conversation in the toilet is prohibited.

USING NOTEBOOKS
- Do not soil or tear off the permit attached to each notebook.
- Use each notebook for its authorised purpose only. Avoid lending it or asking others to write for you on it.
- Handle your notebook with care and avoid soiling and tearing.
- Use an eraser or draw lines to correct errors. Do not tear off any page.
- Use the notebook in the order of pages and do not leave blank pages.
- You may divide a notebook into two parts and use it from both ends. A notebook for study or vocational training may be divided into three or more parts when deemed necessary. Get permission from the officer in charge beforehand....Indexes should be put in each section.
- Submit your notebooks to officers for censorship when required.

[shuize]

I just had this idea. It might sound crazy, but bear with me. It's something we could tell all of our friends in prison to help them get through the tough times and again later when they're released:

Hey, moron, next time don't break the law.

[Outsida]

That guy in Fuchu broke the law! What did he expect, a friggin' parade and medal?

Jesus! Complaining about prison! It's meant to be harsh, so that you don't want to go there.

He got a beatdown for breaking the rules. Duh, maybe... don't break the rules!

I have absolute zero sympathy for this jerk. The Japanese are 110% entitled to protect their nation from drugs and punish the pushers.

Maybe if America did the same, they wouldn't have such a drug problem.

[JimDunlop2]

[Quibby84]

Innocent until proven guilty is very important, that should stay the same in the US but...using some of japans prison rules in the US wouldnt hurt anything.
Look at the crime rate in the US compared to Japan, they are doing something right. The jails are overflowing here and there are still criminals on the streets (we are scared to even go out at night). I really wish that the US would pick up some of Japan's jail rules (maybe not all them but some of them), then maybe people will think twice before committing a crime.
Our jail system makes me somewhat angry. Maybe because I have known people that have committed crimes because either a)they dont care if they get caught or b)the consquences do not scare them...

[Glenski]

Quibby,
If you think only the USA's jails are overflowing, read this. Apparently, harsh prison time doesn't really affect the minds of some criminals.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3984775.stm
"Jails are said to be at 117% capacity, the highest since the Justice Ministry began keeping records in 1972.

The increase was due to rising violent crime and a trend towards longer sentences, a ministry official said."

[Bozo Yoroshiku]

[Quibby84]

hmmm...
Does Japan believe in the death penalty? If so, what how do they execute? (for example: gassing, injections etc)
I read the article about Japan jail overcrowding...and the crazy thing is (that the article said at the end) is that Japan still has MUCH less prisoners per 100,000 people than the UK and the US (japan had 48 where as the UK had 139 and the US had 686!!). I guess the reason for overcrowding is because there are so many people in japan for so little space...

[JimDunlop2]

[Glenski]

[shuize]

Something that is often overlooked when people badmouth the high conviction rate in Japan is the high percentage of nol-pros'ed cases here (cases in which there was probable cause for an arrest but for whatever reason the prosecution does not go forward). Japanese prosecutors, it turns out, are very reluctant to push cases which are not rock solid. In fact, from what I know about the U.S. legal system, I'm willing to bet most prosecutors in the U.S. would be out of a job if they dumped as many cases as their Japanese counterparts. In my estimation, there are almost certainly more wrongful convictions in the U.S. than Japan.