Inmates living in conditions not seen since the end of the war
The problem of overcrowding in Japan's prisons has become so critical that inmates who are generally cowed into good behaviour by the strict regime could riot, according to the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Corrections.
According to the bureau's recent figures, more than 81,000 inmates are detained in prisons and homes designed to accommodate 78,000. This is the highest figure since the years immediately after the end of the second world war.
'We know that in other countries there have been incidents such as strikes and riots that were triggered by the problem of overcrowding and it is possible it could happen in a Japanese prison too,' said Katsuhiko Jimbo, a spokesman for the bureau.
'All we can do for the moment is to try to train the inmates to keep order, to make efforts to gauge their mentality and how they are feeling, and to enforce strict rules.'
Tightening the already strict regulations for which Japan's penal system is notorious, however, might have the opposite effect.
