Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-11-09
A JAPANESE PRISON.
THE INTERESTING THINGS SEEN BY
 AN AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT.

The Prison Buildings of Tokio-An Empty
 Punishment Cer"-The Workshops-A
 Curious Fact-The women's Quarter at
 Ichigawa-A Case.
 With the exception of the Yoshiwara, of which plenty hereafter, the two prisons of Tokio are the most interesting things have seen in Japan. These are, first, the great prison upon the Island of Ishikawa, at the south of the city, and, second, the convict and female prison of Ichigawa, in the center of the city itself. The former is completely isolated, all communication with the main land being by police ferry, and contains 2,o52 men and boys, all of whom are serving terms of ten years or less. The latter con- tains 1 400 men and 110 women, among whom are many serving life sentences. There is convict farm attached, and it is here that capital punishment is inflicted. Otherwise the two prisons resemble each other so closely that it is not necessary to distinguish between them in description.
 The entrance is through massive wooden gateway into a guard room, adjoining which arc the offices of the director and off cials. The prison itself conaists of a score or more of detached one story buildings, all of wood and some of them merely substantial sheds, under which the rougher labor, like 
 tories are enormous wooden cages, the front and part of the back formed of bars as thick as ones arm, before which again is narrow covered passage where the warden on guard walks at night.
 THE PUNISHMENT CELL.
 On leaving the dormitories we passed small, isolated square erection, peaked and gabled like a little temple The door was solemnly unlocked and flung back and was motioned to enter. It was the punishment cell, another spotless wooden box, well ven tilated but perfectly dark, and with walls so thick as to render it practically silent. "How many prisoners have been in it during the last month"; I asked. The director sum- moned the chief warden and repeated my question to him. ''H'tori mo gozaimasen- none whatever" was the reply. "What other punishments have your' 'None whatever" s'No flogging?" When this question was translated the director and the little group of officials all laughed together at the bare idea. could not help wondering whether there was another prison ill the world with no method of punishment for {, 900 criminals ex- cept one dark cell, and that not not used for a month. And the recollection of the filthy and suffocating sty used as a punishment cell | in the city prison of San Francisco came upon me like a nausea.
 A Japanese prison may be divided into two parts-dormitorie and workshops. Of cells or prison buildings, properly speaking, there is nothing whatever. Walking across the yard we entered the first workshop, where a couple of hundred prisoners were making machinery and steam boilers. One warder, armed only with a sword, is reckoned for every fifteen men, and here the prisoners were working on contract orders for outside firms
 under the supervision of one skilled teacher and one representative of the firm giving the contract. So it was in the fine art depart ment and every other of the score of work shops.