Of Interest to Mr. Brain fans
pic Midori
Japanese death row inmates are imprisoned inside the detention centers of Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. Because they are awaiting execution, those on death row are not classified as prisoners by the Japanese justice system and the facilities they are held at are not referred to as prisons.
Inmates lack many of the rights afforded to other Japanese prisoners. The nature of the regime they live under is largely up to the director of the Detention Centre, but it is usually significantly harsher than normal Japanese prisons. Inmates are held under solitary confinement and are forbidden communication with their fellows. They are permitted two periods of exercise a week - reportedly, inmates are not permitted to do even limited exercise within their own cell.They are not allowed televisions and may only possess three books. Prison visits, both by family members and legal representatives, are infrequent and closely supervised.
Executions are carried out by hanging in a death chamber within the Detention Center. When a death order has been issued, the condemned prisoner is informed in the morning of his or her execution. The condemned is given their choice of the last meal. The prisoner's family and legal representatives are not informed until afterwards. Since December 7, 2007, the authorities have been releasing the names, natures of crime and ages of executed prisoners.
As of January 2009, there are 102 people awaiting execution in Japan. Capital crimes are murder and treason, very few people who commit a single murder are sentenced to death.