The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-05-12
Criminal Trials and Punishments in
Japan.

THE penal laws of Japan are remarkably
severe, and the list of crimes which are
punished by death is very large. A COM
picated system of espionage exists for
every branch of government and every
grade of society, rendering it extremely
difficult for criminal to escape detection.
Once in the hands of the police, there is
little chance of his escape by means of
bribery, because of the many checks
brought to bear upon those having tn e
case in charge. A sentence and its execu
ton are not so prompt as has been gener-
ally supposed. A primary examination n
is made by police court, and if the case
is one demanding further action, the of
fender is placed in confinement, there be-
ing no provision for release on bail.
Many of the lower classes who reach the
gaol never obtain a trial, the tardy action
of the authorities and cruelty of the gaol-
ers deciding their cases by causing their
deaths.
The forms and obligations of an oath
are not recognized there as in Christian
communities OF the modes of arrivin q
at truthful testimony there are two quite
peculiar and worthy of note First, by
making the witness seal his written testi-
mOny with drop of blood taken from
under the finger nail second, by subject
ing the giver Of false testimony to the
same punishment which his evidence
brought upon another. The testimony
most relied upon, however, is that OBJ
tanned from the criminal himself, for his
own conviction or acquittal. This, of
course, is rarely voluntary, and tortures
of different kinds are resorted to, the
most common of which is that of placing
the accused on his knees across sharp
edged sticks. Heavy stones are then piled
upon the thighs so as to cause the sticks
to press into the flesh, producing the most
excruciating pain. The bamboo is also
freely used.
Under this system there is little doubt
that maBy an innocent man has confessed
to the commission of crimes of which he
| has been entirely innocent, rather than
suffer further torture. Petty offences are
punished by beating with the bamboo by
| Imprisonment, and transportation to work
in mines. On being discharged, a ring is
printed around the arms in Indian ink
| If, on being arrested at any time, two OF
three rings are found to exist, the offenst
is punished by death, no matter how in
significant the Offense. The most common
form of execution is by dccapitation, and
a theft of any amount exceeding $40 il
thus punished For fratricide or the mur
| der of master, and crimes of an aggravat
ed character, the culprit is crucified ant
transfixed by spears, one on each side
Arson is punished by burning at the stake
or rather on a cross. The ground of exc
cution is usually near some thOrOughfare
or on an elevated piece of ground, so as tt
make as public as possible the punish
ment. A criminal, on being taken from
prison on the day of execution, is placed
bound on horse and made to pas
through the chief streets of the town. Be
fore him, in procession, march som,
wretched coolies bearing bits of board, Oh
which is written the offense of the crimi
nal, his sentence, and the time and plac
of his execution BY his side stride alon.
the officers of the prison police, while tn
rear is brought up by noisy crowd o
men and half grown boys. Even littl
children may be seen trudging along IL
the train to the place of death, where the,
gaze upon terrible scene with few sign
of compassion.
Passing near the execution ground on
day, on returning from ride in the coun
try, your correspondent witnessed an ex
ecution of japanese justice. The prison
er, who had been making the usual tou
of the town. was just approaching tn
foot of the hill, surrounded by the usua
crowd. A more distressed looking objec
I have never seen. III" was unwashed
unshaven, and sckly from long confine
ment and the many hardships in tn
prison.
AS the procession commenced ascendin,
the hill, we observed him swayiDg to ant
fro on his seat, and ready to fall to tn
ground but for the support afforded hin
on either side by the guard. We at frs
thought this unsteadiness of the poor fel
low was due TO weakness and exhaustion
| 1t proved to be partial stupefaction causes
by some drugged liquor, which was place'
to his lips every few moments by one O