“One in five is an elderly person” A prison is like a nursing home August 22 12:13

“This is a microcosm of Japan.”
Adult diapers in the warehouse, meals with finely chopped ingredients ...
It is not an elderly care facility. There is a "prison".
As aging progresses, the number of elderly prisoners is steadily increasing.
The prison officer who spoke the opening words said, “The care in the prison has increased compared to 10 or 20 years ago.”
A microcosm of Japan-I interviewed the site.
(Reporter Yasuhiro Yamada, Political Department)

I went to Fuchu Prison

10 minutes walk from Kitafuchu Station on the JR Musashino Line.
Fuchu Prison in Fuchu City, Tokyo.

The site is over 260,000 square meters and is the largest prison in Japan.
Equivalent to 5.6 Tokyo Domes.
Repeat offenders, foreigners, and inmates with disabilities are admitted.

There are currently about 1800 inmates, of which about 340 are over 65 years old.
In other words, almost one in five is an elderly person.

When the prison officer who guided me at the entrance of the containment area where the prisoners live releases the double biometric authentication, a unique tension spreads.

The prisoner's cell is about 3 tatami mats.
Iron grids at the entrance and small windows of the room.
A prison officer kept an eye out for the concrete inorganic corridor.

Elderly prisoners are nursing homes

In principle, prisoners are strictly prohibited from using private language. Prison officers are also prohibited from talking outside of duties.
I got up at 6:45 am.
After the call, we will have breakfast and start work at 8am.

Many inmates walk to the factory on the premises.

Some older prisoners are difficult to move due to weakness in their legs.
Such people enter the same room with several people and work in the room.
It is called “nursery factory” in this prison.

On that day, I was working on binding the straps used to hold the handbags and checking the number of clothespin parts.

An inmate with a gray-haired head that works silently.
From the age, the rounded back was impressive.

Morning work ends at noon.
The prisoners then go out to the ground and exercise for 30 minutes.

Elderly prisoners go around 10am early and go out to the square in front of the building and take a walk slowly.
Some inmates take about 20 minutes from leaving the room to starting a walk.

On the day I visited, the maximum temperature exceeded 30 degrees, and some were canceled because of heat stroke measures.

Increasing number of elderly prisoners

Japan has an aging population that is unprecedented in the world.

Compared to the past, the number of foreign inmates is increasing, and multilingual response is required.

There are 75 prisons nationwide, including branch offices.

According to the Ministry of Justice, there were about 46,700 inmates at the end of 2017.
Of these, nearly 9000 are over 60 years old.
In that year, nearly 20,000 inmates were admitted and 2278 “aged” people over 65 years old. The rate is 11.8%.
Compared to about 20 years ago, the number of people has increased more than three times, and the rate has increased nearly four times.

Easier to eat

Lunch for Fuchu prisoners is 40 minutes from noon.
Private language is also prohibited during this time.

According to a dietitian in prison, some elderly people have lunch, taking an hour from 11:20 am one hour earlier than other prisoners because some of them are weaker.

Depending on the menu, you can chop the ingredients finely ...

It is sometimes made into a paste.

In addition, due to chronic diseases, it is necessary to consider calories, salt, allergies, etc. When there are many, it is possible to prepare nearly 20 types of meals with one meal.

Handrail in the bathroom

After lunch, work again from 1pm.
Older prisoners go to bath when they finish their work around 3:30 pm.

Handrails are installed from the dressing room to the bathroom.
It seems that it was installed six years ago so that the elderly would not fall.

There is a “trash can” in the corner of the dressing room.
This is for diapers only.

In Fuchu Prison, about 10 elderly inmates use diapers, and some people need help to eat and excrete.

Diapers are always kept in a prison warehouse.
A number of cardboard boxes were stacked.

When asked by a prison officer, "Diapers don't dare help more than necessary so that they can live on their own when they return to society," he says.

After bathing, dinner starts at 5pm.
After finishing meals, you are allowed to read books and watch TV until 9pm, and you can sleep on a futon from 6pm.
The entire prison bedtime is 9pm.

Some inmates, especially elderly people, need to take medicines according to their diet. When guided to a building called the Medical Administration Building, a large number of paper bags containing medicines were lined up.

The staff in charge performed the sorting of the medicines taken by the inmates while confirming.

There have been reports of cases where medicines have been distributed incorrectly throughout the country, and work was proceeding carefully.

In the past, drug-related conditions such as stimulants continued, and some inmates complained of lie symptoms, tried to get psychiatric drugs, etc., pretending to take drugs and handed them to other inmates Therefore, it is said that it is confirmed even in the mouth whether the medicine was taken.

1 person is dead per month

If older prisoners increase, some will die in prison.
In Fuchu Prison, one inmate is killed on average per month.

If there is no person to take the corpse, it is stored in the prison for a certain period after being attached to a cave at the crematorium arranged by the prison.
After that, according to the time of the Bon Festival, the remains will be put into a public cemetery.

How prisoners feel

Older inmates at Fuchu Prison have committed crimes in the past, and have averaged about seven times in the past.

There are many relatively minor crimes such as theft. Some inmates in their 90s have been in the hospital for nearly 50 years, nearly 30 times.

Some people repeat crimes for reasons such as “because life is easier in prisons” or “because there is no relatives”.

Joji Furuyama, who has been in prison for 14 years and has been working at Fuchu Prison for three years, says:

“It ’s a shame when I come back after finishing my sentence, and I am sure that the aging of the inmates is more advanced than when I became a prisoner. I don't think so, so I think the labor required for one inmate is increasing. "

An old inmate who was suspected of having dementia misunderstood that his belongings had been stolen, and he had quarreled with other inmates.

“I feel that not only the role of prison but also the elements of nursing care are increasing year by year. Prison is a society and a microcosm of Japan” (Mr. Furuyama)

Are there enough prison officers?

The Ministry of Justice has started testing dementia for prisoners over the age of 60 since last year, and has been working on barrier-free prisons, but it cannot be said that the response has caught up.

For this reason, it seems that Mr. Koyama and the prison officers at the scene are increasing year by year.
In fact, more and more prison officers leave their jobs in less than three years.

The proportion of prison officers who retired in less than three years, summarized in 2018, is 22.1%.
Ten years ago, it was 18.5%.
Female prisoners are even more serious, with 37% quitting in 2018.

There are approximately 17,500 prison officers nationwide, but the Ministry of Justice demands an increase because it is insufficient.

Regarding the background, the Ministry of Justice has to deal with prisoners older than itself, and in some cases it can help people's lives, such as pushing a wheelchair. It is said that it is thought that this has an effect.

If this is the case, it will fail

Professor Shinichi Ishizuka of Ryukoku University, specializing in criminal policy and criminology, says:

“Overseas, I haven't put elderly inmates in prison for so long. So I think the situation in Japan is“ too strict ”and“ I should be in a welfare facility. With the aging wave coming in, how Japan is responding as an advanced example of aging, the number of foreign countries such as China and South Korea visiting prisons is increasing. I have. "

On top of that, Professor Ishizuka warns that the response of elderly inmates is urgent.

“It is necessary to reduce the number of senior citizens who enter the prison by repeatedly committing crimes by creating a saucer for elderly prisoners in the community centered on hospitals and welfare facilities. Prison burdens will continue to increase and someday will fail. ''

How should a prison be

One of the prison officers said, “The number of elderly people will surely increase in the future. First of all, I think it will be necessary to have many people know the current situation and think about how to respond.”

The law stipulates that prisons "provide guidance necessary for rehabilitation and smooth social rehabilitation". However, as far as the actual situation of Fuchu prisons is concerned, not only rehabilitation but also maintaining a human life I feel that correspondence is also required.

It may be time to review the response to prisoners in prisons, as laws may be amended in accordance with social conditions.

Yasuhiro Yamada, reporter of political department
Joined in 2012. From the Kyoto Bureau to the political department. After the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Justice interviewed foreign personnel. Currently in charge of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.