Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-11-21
A JAPANESE PRISON.
The Interesting Things Seen by an
American Correspondent.


With the exception of the Yoshi.
wara, of which plenty hereafter. the
two prisons of Toxic are the most in
teresting 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 cen
ter of the city itself. The former is
completely isolated all communication
with the main land being by police
ferry, and contains 2,052 men and
boys, all of whom are serving terms of
ten years or less. The latter contains
/, 400 men and ITO women, among
whom are many serving life sent
ences. There is a convict farm at
tached, and 1t is here that capital
punishment is inflicted. Otherwise
the two prisons resemble each other so
closely that it is not necessary to dis
tinguish between them in description.
The entrance IS through a massive
wooden gateway into guard room,
adjoining which are the offices of the
director and officials. The prison it.
self consists of score or more Of de-
tached one story buildings, all OF wood
and some of them merely substantial
like stone breaking, IS performed. The
dormltories are enormous wooden
cages, the front and part of the back
formed of lars as thick as ones arm,
before which again is a narrow covered
passage where the warder on guard
walks at night.
On leaving the dormitories we passed
a small, isolated square erection,
peaked and gaOled like little temple.
The door was sOlemnly unlocked and
hung back, and | was motioned to
enter. 1t was the punishment cell,
another spotlesS wooden box. well ven
tilated but perfectly dark, and with
walls so thick as to render il practically
silent. slow many prisoners have
been in it during the last monthP' l
asked. The director summoned the
chief warder and repeated my ques-
ton to him. "R'torI mo goZaImasen
none Whatever" was the reply.
"What other punishments have you?"
None whatever" ''No 1oggingg''
When this question was translated the
director and the little group of Oflic-
ials all laughed together at the hare
idea. l could lot help wondering
whether there was another prison in
the world with no method of punish
ment for 600 criminals except one
dark cell, and that 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-dormitories and work
shops. OF cells or prison buildings,
properly speaking, there is nothing
whatever. Walking across the yard
We entered the first workshop, where
couple of hundred prisoners were
making machinery and steam boilers.
One warLer, 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 department and every
other of the score of workshops.
Prisoners employed at the higher
classes of labor are credited with one
tenth the sum received for their hand
iwork. But as the work was so good
and the running expenses seemed so
light l was much surprised to learn
that the prison was not yet self sup
porting, only seven-tenths of the total
cost being realized from the sale of
prisoners work. Another curious
fact is that every adult prisoner Is
detained for six months after his SEN
| tence expires if he is not claimed in
the mean time by his friends, and
until he is of adult age if he has not
reached 1t and is unclaimed. These
prisoners wear blue instead of red,
after their sentences have expired.
The women's quarter at Ichigawa is
separated from the mems by a high
wooden fence and gateway guarded by
sentinel, and consists of two or
three dCrmitories and one large, COM
Portable workshop, where all the 10
are employed together at labor let
out 10y contract. When l was there
they were all hemming silk handker-
chiefs, each seated upon the matted
floor before little table, and very neat
they all looked and very pretty some
of them, with their loose red gowns
and simply twisted hair 'Those are
forgers," said the officer, pointing to
three of them; 81 do not like them to
be so pretty" One of the women had
young baby playing beside her, and
another OF them, as she glanced up at
US, showed a face entirely different
from the rest, pale, sad and refined,
and [ saw that her hands were small
and very white. 1t was Hanai Ume,
the once famous geisha Of Toxic, ia
nous for her beauty, her samlsen play
ing, her dancing, her pride, and most
famous of all for her affaire d'amouT.