Can someone go to prison without it becoming public knowledge?

[raisingtoads]

Furthermore, can a criminal case ever be handled confidentially without news of their arrest being made public under a plea of guilt? I'm writing a story where a character, who committed multiple crimes including first-degree manslaughter in his teenage years, turns himself in at the age of 18. The setting of the story is Tokyo, Japan, present day

Comments

[smirkingcat]

i am not too certain about the law in japan, would have to look that up;
but generally yes, there is a possibility: gag-orders.
The Government stops all reporting on those people, they get a new name and a new identity, like in vitness protection, just as a criminal with way less lee-way. There are quite a few cases of that out there, happening in GB, the US, France and Germany.

Mostly though this is done with children/teenagers did some HANIOUS crime. They get sentenced for life most of the time, and then after about 15-25/30 years they get out on "probation" which is always overwatched.

it might be difficult for you to go that route, as your character is already famous and a grown up;
but you might be able to use a gag-order and some work around the system, depending on how close to reality you want to be,
i hope this was helpful?

[mazal_]

I also have no actual knowledge but tend to agree with the above. It sounds like a black-ops situation that any government would like to keep as secret as possible.

[nagi_schwarz]

Not licensed to practice in Japan but I did train as a prosecutor before I worked as a prosecution-adjacent government attorney for five years