NationStates Jolt Archive

I found this 6-part series (though more to come later) story told by George, an American living in Japan with his wife and two kids.

It's incredibly well-written and not very bias given the circumstances.

I think if you're looking for something new to read, try this. It gives good insight into the Japanese prison system, even if it's through the eyes of one person in one prison.

Enjoy!

Prison in Japan (http://www.stippy.com/japan-life/gaijin-in-a-japanese-prison-1/)

im checking it out.

thanks

I found this 6-part series (though more to come later) story told by George, an American living in Japan with his wife and two kids.

It's incredibly well-written and not very bias given the circumstances.

I think if you're looking for something new to read, try this. It gives good insight into the Japanese prison system, even if it's through the eyes of one person in one prison.

Enjoy!

Prison in Japan (http://www.stippy.com/japan-life/gaijin-in-a-japanese-prison-1/)

The inmates don't seem like bad guys, but those cops are assholes.

great... another series that I have to wait for...


Love the guards.

Interesting read, thanks.

very interesting. thanks for posting the link

its certainly not the worst jail in the world to end up in.

Great... the though of turning this into a mini series or "made for TV movie" popped into my head...

I agree. I hate waiting for the next part. ^_^

Now you know why Japan has such a low crime rate, people REALLY don't want to get involved with the Japanese justice system.

Great... the though of turning this into a mini series or "made for TV movie" popped into my head...

yeah

or it might make a great manga!

yeah

or it might make a great manga!

Manga I can see... but a movie on the Oxygen channel?

it could be done but it would have to focus on the wife and turn into a "woman in danger" movie where she prevails in the end after enduring horrendous hardships.

and don't forget the EBIL of Alcohol message. ;)

Hmmm... Valerie Bertinelli as the wife?

Manga I can see... but a movie on the Oxygen channel?

it could be done but it would have to focus on the wife and turn into a "woman in danger" movie where she prevails in the end after enduring horrendous hardships.

Great story.

But was it a full blown prison or some sort of detention center?

I found this 6-part series (though more to come later) story told by George, an American living in Japan with his wife and two kids.

It's incredibly well-written and not very bias given the circumstances.

I think if you're looking for something new to read, try this. It gives good insight into the Japanese prison system, even if it's through the eyes of one person in one prison.

Enjoy!

Prison in Japan (http://www.stippy.com/japan-life/gaijin-in-a-japanese-prison-1/)

Thanks. I know people who've been through the meat grinder that is the Japanese penal system, including a guy who did 10 years. This account jives with what I know.

very interesting. thanks for posting the link

its certainly not the worst jail in the world to end up in.

This is true. However, the major problem here isn't that the prison system is inhumane (which it is), but that the detention system leads to the conviction of innocents. (See more below.)

Now you know why Japan has such a low crime rate, people REALLY don't want to get involved with the Japanese justice system.

Indeed.

Great story.

But was it a full blown prison or some sort of detention center?

Daiyo kangoku (a pre-trial detention cell at a police station), according to the blog. Here's (http://www.marcus-clark.com/japan/japan-daiyo.htm) a good overview of the system.

The police can detain a person for 3 days, which can be extended twice for 10 days each time, for a total of 23 days, with the permission of a judge (which is almost always granted - 99% of the time, if I recall the correct figures), without indictment. During this time, detainees are held virtually incommunicado, with limited contact with defense counsel, who are not in attendance at interrogations. The interrogations are very intense and coercive, and are known to include beatings. And while de jure, there is a right to remain silent, in practice there is no right to remain silent.

This system leads to coerced confessions and the imprisonment of innocents. It has also been used as a political tool. Several human rights organizations, as well as the UN Human Rights Committee, have condemned the system.

very interesting. thanks for posting the link

its certainly not the worst jail in the world to end up in.
However: considering the Japanese Police have a close to 100% conviction rate, you don't really want to ever be accused of anything ever if you go to Japan.
If the Police arrest you there, you're boned.

However: considering the Japanese Police have a close to 100% conviction rate, you don't really want to ever be accused of anything ever if you go to Japan.
If the Police arrest you there, you're boned.

Well, there go my plans for ever wanting to visit Japan. :p

However: considering the Japanese Police have a close to 100% conviction rate, you don't really want to ever be accused of anything ever if you go to Japan.
If the Police arrest you there, you're boned.

Indeed. And a fairly important part of that is due to the coereced/forced confessions from the detention system.

It was an interesting account, though some details like the characterizations of his fellow-prisoners and his first meeting with Fatman betray that the author is really quite an arsehole.

Did anyone else notice how the author gives such a consistent story about the taxi incident, yet curiously omits "I thought the taxi driver was trying to cheat me, and that's when I got angry." Contrast his indignation at being accused of quibbling over the fare or stealing a phone ... I suspect he really did hit the taxi driver, on purpose, and this part of his account is in fact not truthful to the best of his recollection.

The DIC is the obvious villain of the piece. Trying to distort the prisoner's statement is just the tip of the iceberg so clearly addressed by Daistallia2104.
The author's mate also behaved abominably -- wouldn't be a mate of mine if he didn't have the guts to tell me to cool it and give the man his bloody phone back. Apparently he thought it would be convenient time to nip off and buy a drink :rolleyes:

It was an interesting account, though some details like the characterizations of his fellow-prisoners and his first meeting with Fatman betray that the author is really quite an arsehole.

Did anyone else notice how the author gives such a consistent story about the taxi incident, yet curiously omits "I thought the taxi driver was trying to cheat me, and that's when I got angry." Contrast his indignation at being accused of quibbling over the fare or stealing a phone ... I suspect he really did hit the taxi driver, on purpose, and this part of his account is in fact not truthful to the best of his recollection.
I noticed that too. His whole behaviour in the taxi belied an arseholey nature imo.
If he thought the taxi driver was trying to rip them off, then he should have just told him to stop, pay and then get out rather than shout at him and attempt to meddle with the taxi's GPS system. His behavious smacks of a belligerent and condescending attitude.

still an interesting read, nonetheless.

I noticed that too. His whole behaviour in the taxi belied an arseholey nature imo.
If he thought the taxi driver was trying to rip them off, then he should have just told him to stop, pay and then get out rather than shout at him and attempt to meddle with the taxi's GPS system. His behavious smacks of a belligerent and condescending attitude.

still an interesting read, nonetheless.

Yes, "George" does seem to have been an arse. The use of the term "Chinamen" is another point in that direction. That being said, taxi drivers here can be problematic.

At least two of the folks I mentioned above as having been through the system were confrontations with taxi drivers. One was a guy who was nearly hit by a taxi, yelled at the driver, and the driver hopped out and threw a punch at him.

The other was a similar sort of case to "George's". My friend told the driver to stop before the fare meter turned over to more yen than what he had on him. The driver continued on for several 100 meters, passing several places he could have stopped. When he told the driver, the driver locked him in the taxi and drove to the police station, where the officer simply took his money and locked him up in the drunk tank.

(BTW, IIRC, Karl Von Wolferen said, in The Enigma of Japanese Power, that the National Police Agency is the largest threat to deomcracy in Japan.)

I'd like to kind of recant my criticism of the author. Deleting my post which did that isn't right, since it was directly replied to, but JUST IN CASE George himself should ever read this thread:

It's kind of brave to blog like that, and I sure wouldn't have read the whole thing if it didn't have some verisimilitude.

Also, I want to hear the outcome (the actual sentence, and descriptions of a real Japanese jail if he gets sent there.) I don't have a problem with 23 days in jail for what the author admits to doing, though the process sucks (I consider 24 hours imprisonment without charge to be an outrage in my own country, let alone 23 days.)

By commenting on the author, I might be discouraging him from telling his story. I don't want that.

For anyone interested in a much shorter story about prison in Japan just to get a basic idea of the place, click here. (http://www.usp.com.au/fpss/exp-japan01.html) The page has a lot peoples experiences in prisons of various countries.

The conviction rate in Japan is 99 percent.

You don't even want to get arrested.

For anyone interested in a much shorter story about prison in Japan just to get a basic idea of the place, click here. (http://www.usp.com.au/fpss/exp-japan01.html) The page has a lot peoples experiences in prisons of various countries.

Hmmm... That's a much less sympathetic story. (That's not to say I'm all that sympathetic to "George".)

While he does bring up some of the problems, there are somethings in his story that I just don't trust (the Nazi comparisons in particular) and others that I don't see as problems (prison labor).

Hmmm... That's a much less sympathetic story. (That's not to say I'm all that sympathetic to "George".)

While he does bring up some of the problems, there are somethings in his story that I just don't trust (the Nazi comparisons in particular) and others that I don't see as problems (prison labor).

Yeah, its not very well written which is one problem with that site. They probably need an editer to go over the stories with each person for readability rather than just printing them straight. Still, it gives a basic idea of some of the realities of prison in a very modernised country. Some of the stories about prisons in places like Zimbabwe and various south east asian countries are a lot scarier.

The conviction rate in Japan is 99 percent.

You don't even want to get arrested.

Damn, all they need now is Room 101.