Japan

Capital city — Tokyo

Country's population
126,942,000
Incarceration rate
41
i
07/2018
/ ICPR
Nature of the political system
Parliamentary democracy
Human Development Index
0.903
i
2016
/ UNDP
Name of the authority(ies) in charge of the…
Ministry of Justice
Total number of prisoners
51,805
i
31/07/2018
/ ICPR
Average length of detention (in months)
36
months
i
2014
/ Center for Prisoners’ rights
Occupancy rate
67 %
i
2014
/ ICPR
Total number of penal institutions
188
i
2014
A NPM has been created
No
Female prisoners
8.3 %
i
2014
/ ICPR
Incarcerated minors
4.8 %
i
2014
/ ICPR
Prisoners in pre-trial detention
11.3 %
i
2014
/ ICPR
The death penalty is abolished
No

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Annual report Seen in the press Testimonials

Date of the reportDec 2015

Author(s)Center for Prisoners’ rights / Pr Akaike (Univ. of Kyoto) / Mme Yasuda (Univ. of Kokugakuin)

For more in-depth information

Center for Prisoners'Rights website
Recommendations for the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), JFBA, March 2014
Report of the JFBA in response to the Comments by the Government of Japan concerning the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee against Torture (CAT/C/JPN/CO/2) (Alternative Report), JFBA, July 2015
Penal institutions in Japan, document published by the Bureau of Corrections, Ministry of Justice Septembre 2011
Judicial system in Japan
Japan from inside. Documentary by Philippe Couture. 2000, France, 61 minutes.
Kazuichi Hanawa, Doing time, 2000. A comic strip of life in a Japanese prison.