Tag - japanese-prisons

 
 

JAPANESE PRISONS

Kozo Iizuka (center) takes part in an investigation of the site of an April 2019 car crash in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district that he was involved in, in June the same year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 25, 2024
93-year-old inmate imprisoned over fatal Tokyo car crash dies
Kozo Iizuka died while serving a five-year term for negligent driving that caused the deaths of a woman and her young daughter in Ikebukuro in April 2019.
Since inmates with mental disabilities often repeat similar offenses after a short period of time — partly due to a lack of necessary support — increased help from staffers with specialized knowledge is becoming crucial.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 18, 2024
Ministry ramps up support for prisoners with mental disabilities in Japan
One of the main targets is to reduce the recidivism rate, which tends to be higher for prisoners with mental and developmental disabilities.
Hyogo Prefectural Police investigators call on people at a station in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, on Oct. 16 to provide information related to the 2007 murder of a girl in the city.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024
Inmate hints at involvement in murder of another girl in western Japan
Hyogo Prefectural Police plan to arrest the man soon on suspicion of attempted murder in another case.
Experts of a Justice Ministry panel hold a meeting in Tokyo in June to discuss revision of the probation officer system.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2024
Justice Ministry to consider public recruitment of volunteer probation officers
The officers regularly meet with individuals released from prison, including those on parole, offering guidance on life and employment support.
Japan's new justice minister Hideki Makihara says abolishing the death penalty would be "inappropriate."
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2024
New justice minister says scrapping death penalty 'inappropriate'
Capital punishment has strong public support in Japan, where scrapping it is rarely discussed.
Therapy dogs are brought in for correctional education at the Kakogawa Gakuen juvenile correctional facility in Hyogo Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Sep 3, 2024
Novel dog training program aids rehab at juvenile correctional facility
An official involved in the program highlighted its importance, saying, 'Interaction with animals plays a valuable role in the rehabilitation of juveniles.'
Tsutomu Shirosaki, former member of the Japanese Red Army
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 21, 2024
Ex-Japan Red Army prisoner, 76, chokes on food and dies
Tsutomu Shirosaki was serving time for his involvement in the 1986 terrorist attack on the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta.
A new rule of having prison officers use honorifics when addressing inmates sparked apprehension when it was introduced in April. Three months later, a prison officer said the rule helps avoid situations where older inmates might not feel comfortable being called by their names without honorifics by officers fresh out of school.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2024
Prison officers and inmates warm up to rule on use of honorifics
Since April, a new rule requires prison officers to use the honorifics san and kun when addressing inmates by their last names.
Michael Taylor, former U.S. Green Beret and architect of the 2019 Carlos Ghosn escape plot, said that other inmates deported from Fuchu Prison to a detention center in Los Angeles were so traumatized that they ended up with psychological problems.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2024
Man who sprung Ghosn challenges depiction of Fuchu Prison
Michael Taylor, who served part of his sentence at the facility, said he felt the depiction had missed key elements of the "Fuchu experience."
From the outside, the light-brown complex that is Fuchu Prison in western Tokyo could easily be mistaken for a city hall.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 19, 2024
Fuchu Prison adapting to foreign prisoners
The penitentiary houses the biggest population of foreign prisoners in Japan, and as such is taking measures to accommodate them in terms of language, culture, food and lifestyle.
Takuya Matsunaga reads a reply from Kozo Iizuka, imprisoned for killing Matsunaga's wife and daughter in 2019 in a high-profile accident in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, at his home in Tokyo earlier this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 19, 2024
Five years after fatal Ikebukuro crash, bereaved man works to prevent repeat
A man plans to meet with the driver who accidentally killed his wife and young daughter, hoping to learn what went through the driver's mind.
A prison officer looks around Tokushima prison in Tokushima in March 2018. The Justice Ministry announced Wednesday that male prisoners in Japan are to be allowed to have certain skin care products.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 24, 2024
Japan to allow male prisoners to use same skin care items as women
Under previous rules, the in-prison purchase and gift acceptance of the toiletry items were allowed only for female inmates.
Heidrun Holzfeind documents urban and rural scenes, such as two policemen on bicycles nonchalantly rolling down a street, in her video piece "The 49th Year." The footage is presented alongside incarcerated New Left group leader Toshihiko Kamata’s writings about Japan’s highly supervised society in the exhibition "News from K."
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 2023
'News From K' captures the oppression of landscape
Letters from prison by New Left group leader Toshihiko Kamata reveal a sense of limbo in Heidrun Holzfeind’s new work.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 15, 2023
Japan women prisoners suffer serious abuse: Human Rights Watch
Handcuffs during pregnancy, separation from newborn babies and insufficient care for elderly inmates are among the abuses suffered, the rights group said.
“The Burden of the Past” is based on the real-life experiences of ex-cons and the editorial team of a magazine that supports former prisoners in finding jobs and reentering society.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2023
'The Burden of the Past' addresses bleak reality of ex-cons with some hope
Atsushi Funahashi’s film is grounded in the director’s own research about the hurdles former prisoners face when attempting to rejoin society.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2023
Japan's Justice Ministry compiles plan to prevent prison abuse
Following abuse by officers at Nagoya Prison, the ministry plans to provide officers with body cameras and change the system determining where inmates are detained.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 21, 2023
Expert panel takes aim at Japan’s prison conditions following inmate abuse
The reforms, including measures targeting the early detection of abuse, would be applied to all penal institutions in Japan if approved.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 28, 2023
13 Nagoya prison officers referred to prosecutors over assaults
The Nagoya District Public Prosecutor's Office will conduct investigations to determine whether to indict the officers, who range from 21 to 37 years old.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 5, 2022
Americans who helped Carlos Ghosn escape Japan are sent back to U.S.
The father and son sentenced to serve time in a Japanese prison for smuggling Carlos Ghosn out of the country were transferred to the U.S. a week ago.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?