Comments on: Prison in Japan: Part 6 “The Guards”

By: niigata984

niigata984 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:04:53 +0000

It’s been 4 years now since i finished my prison term for 2 and a half years in japan. Judging from the name i gave here was my prison and prison number. Boy, the stories you mentioned here brought back a lot of memories… natsukashi desu ne. I was imprisoned for smuggling in plastic cards for the use of fake credit cards. Usually people would get deported but they decided to make me the first example of a harsher sentence. Most probably coz i was the first flight attendant to be caught doing that. Coming from Malaysia and being educated in Malay & English i didn’t speak a word of Japanese. That was hell for me… Shouganai, which means Cest la vie…
But all in all everything turns out well. I’m teaching japanese for the tourism department back home apart other things which are fully legal. With all those quiet moment in solitary i practised Kanji day & night even made it an aim to be a lecturer in teaching japanese when i get back home. Suddenly the news came that i’m going to be given Karishaku ( parole ) and it’s time to go back home. It’s strange but i felt empty for a while there. Things that i would write about my experience would be endless but i always thought that people would never understand it. Now i know that i’m not alone i can put my mind at rest…

By: Barrow

Barrow — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:48:03 +0000

As a Prison officer in the UK – we really don’t have it in for the prisoners, we are too busy and there are far too many of them. Prisons are run by good will from both officers and prisoners!

By: Kibbs

Kibbs — Sat, 12 May 2007 06:16:57 +0000

Rick,

I guess what ORC means is not that Japan is 3rd world but that being a 1st world citizen he didn’t get so badly treated as someone from a 3rd world country

By: ReallyEvilCanine

ReallyEvilCanine — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:23:09 +0000

That was an incredibly interesting story. Thanks for presenting a picture of a situation most people would otherwise never know. I’m curious about what happened in the end and what your departure from the ryuchijyo was like.

oRc, it looks like the system works just as intended. You knowingly violated the law, they jailed you for it, holding you in the ryuchijyo for the maximum period possible to give you a taste of what your sentence could’ve been, then sent you the hell away. You now help them do their work by spreading the word and helping them keep the drugs out. Your opinion of their drug laws is meaningless. Their country, their rules. And you kowingly broke ‘em.

And as Rick wrote, Japan is most certainly a first-world country. Had you been caught in a second- or third-world country you could’ve been summarily executed.

By: Rick

Rick — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:57:42 +0000

You brought marijuana into an Asian country (well known for being very strict with drugs) and you’re complaining about the legal system? You say that you had been here before, so it’s not even as if you had ignorance for an excuse; I don’t support strict drug laws, but you really brought this upon yourself.

Also, for the record, Japan is a first world country.

By: oRc

oRc — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:57:53 +0000

Hello Max.

I’ve been in Japan Prisons (Narita Airport, Chiba and Tokyo inmigration) for 2 and a half months, after they found 3 gr. of Marihuana on my suitcase. Obviously it was self consume but Japanese law don’t make distinctions, they judged me the same way I had a kilo of it.

I got 1.5 years of hard-work prison sentence (for 3 gr.) but, being the first time, i got deported to my country and can’t go back to Japan. Never. I’m disgusted, I’ve been there 3 times before and i loved that country.

They knew from the beginning what was my fault, there was no possible investigation as I admitted my “crime”. Even that they made me spend those 23 days of “ryuchijyo” before presenting the charges. Some unfair extra punishment.

I thought prison was like movies: with people walking around, a big patio, a cantina, books and some things to do. Not in Japan. Maybe i wasn’t afraid for my integrity, guards where fine, i got food and didn’t found bad cellmates. Even that they go for your head, making me stay all 2.5 months closed, just going out 10 minutes a day, on a 5×1.5 m empty room. So many time to think, no books, no pen, no paper. I almost went crazy.

I went there for holidays and ended up having the worst experience of my life. Now, 2 years after, i also think that i learned many things, seeing with my eyes how Japanese goverment take care of illegal inmigration and how lucky being 1rst world citizen am I.

Be careful with Japanese justice, i hope this post can serve as an advice.

By: Bianca

Bianca — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:17:59 +0000

This is well written and for someone who was getting a raw deal, not terribly biased. It’s good insight to a system we have little knowledge about.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 15:56:57 +0000

Fascinating book by a guy who worked as a guard at Sing-Sing prison in New York for anyone interested.

http://www.amazon.com/Newjack-Guarding-Sing-Ted-Conover/dp/0375726624/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-9661206-4653745?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176825283&sr=8-2

By: zippo

zippo — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:31:05 +0000

The eyes in your drawing need to be rotated by 90 degrees.

By: Kyle Armbruster

Kyle Armbruster — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:24:17 +0000

There’s a jail in my hometown (US). When the state was trying to convince people that having a jail wouldn’t lead to an increase in crime, they pointed out that all the criminals were IN the jail. They forgot to mention that the guards were outside of it (for the time being).

Really, they are subhuman thugs. Awful, useless people. And I mean that, as mean as it sounds.