Posted on 01/15/2017 6:03:36 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Tokyo (AFP) - Every day is the same. He wakes at 6:45 am, eats breakfast 20 minutes later and reports for work at eight o'clock sharp. But this isn't your typical Japanese salaryman.
This man is in his 80s and he is in prison -- a cage of structure and certainty that he is hesitant to ever leave.
"I don't know what kind of life I should lead after I get out. I'll be worried about my health and financial situation once I leave," the inmate told AFP on condition of anonymity from Tokyo's Fuchu Prison, where he is serving time for attempted theft.
His case is not unique: Japan is in the midst of a geriatric crime wave such that its prisons increasingly look like nursing homes.
The situation has become so dire the government approved a plan to deploy nursing care staff to about half of Japan's 70 prisons from April, allocating a budget of 58 million yen ($495,000).
In 2015, almost 20 percent of those who were either arrested or interrogated by police were aged 65 or older -- up from 5.8 percent in 2000, according to the National Police Agency.
Most are imprisoned for petty crime such as shoplifting and theft.
The rise in senior crime is attributed to increased economic hardship, an ageing population, and pure greed, according to a 2013 report by the National Police Agency.
- Geriatric crime wave -
"It's a problem that the work of prison officers is becoming more like nursing care," Justice Ministry official Shinsuke Nishioka said, contrasting that with the traditional task of ensuring the incarcerated don't escape.
Officers at Fuchu, Japan's biggest male-only correctional house, have to change diapers for some prisoners and help them bathe.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Jails are cheaper over there.
Maybe his life is no better. Staring at 4 walls, isolation, no security. No having obligations can been found patience?
Why bother if you live this way.
All I heard in college was who great the Japanese were. Times changes and living well is he measure of success.
I’ve often walked by the prison. It’s a nondescript place in a mixed business / residential area behind massive and very tall concrete walls.
There are many places, where old criminals would rather stay in prison, than get out.
That’s the most depressing thing I’ve read in a while. People who would trade a ‘lead role in a cage’ for real life.
Their mistake is in prosecuting these cases. These men would not be attempting to get in if they knew it was fruitless to commit the petty crimes.
Quite a few of our rest homes are set up with a prison like schedule. No variation from day to day makes life easier for many elderly.
Did you mean to say Thomas Mann, the German novelist? He wrote a novel called “The Magic Mountain”. If Thomas Wolfe wrote one too, I haven’t heard of it.
You’re right - read it about fifty years ago about the same time I was reading “You Can’t Go Home Again” which was by Wolfe - thanks for the correction....
Well cheer up, Trump is going to be our president in just five more days.
LOL. Did you write this in 2017 and it took a while for the server to post?
I guess I had a slow connection.
I wonder if this applies to the gangsta Yakuza as well as to people who get imprisoned for other things. Gangs and the mob at least do provide a social structure that can be emotionally supportive (at least until it's your turn to be whacked).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.