The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-12-09
THE PRISONS OF JAPAN
THE GREAT PENITEN,rIAWY At ToK-
Y0, AND IT'S $500 CO. vICTs.
How the Convicts Are Fed and an Ex-
~perience with Horse M~eat-Prfson
Discipline and Punishments.

copyrighted. 1894. by Frank c. carpenter.)
The biggest prison in Japan, and one
of the largest in the world, is the great
Tokyo p~enitentiary. 1t is situated in the
heart Of the city, in the middle of an
island of about twenty acres. 1t is
within a stones throw almost of the
busiest part of the great japanese cap-
ital. Near by is Asakusa, with its gor-
geous temples, it's hundreds of peep
shows, and its e~ver-vagying panorama of
japanese pleasures. Not far off is the
famed Yoshiwara. with its $500 frail but
fair Japanese maidens. and just below
it is Skull. where the missionaries and
the foreigners live. This prison is sep
arated from all this nun of life only by
the wide waters of the deep Sumida
river. and the only human voices that
these prisoners hear are those of their
officials. They dare not use their own,
and year in and year out they stand,
Tantalus like. in the very midst of all
that the Japanese loves, with the waves
of pleasure almos tapping their lips.
but unable to drink of the waters.
1t is not an easy thing for a visitor to
get access to a Japanese prison. AS for
the criminal. he finds the way just as
open in Japan as in America, but the
visitor must have the best credentials
and only the fewest of travellers have
ever gone through this great peniten-
tiary. ! had letters, however, from the
Secret-service Bureau of the Treasury
Department to the chief of police of
Tokyo, and these, with the assistance
of tho A mnrinan miniCfar nnana6 aUQrU-
thing connected with the police and
prisons of the Japanese empire to me.
JAPAN'S INSPECTOR BYRNES.
DR.. Whitney. the interpreter of our
legation. went with me. and we called
upon the Inspector Byrnes of Japan.
His name is Mr.. Sonotta. and he has
charge of the five thousand policemen
of the Japanese capital, and a close con-
nection with the detective service of the
empire. The Emperor of Japan knows
almost as well as the Gear where every
one of his subjects sleeps of a night,
and all suspected persons are carefully
watched. Both foreigners and natives
are required to have passports, and dur
ing the present trouble with China /
venture a record Is kept of every for
eigner who comes to Japan and all of
his doings. The passport which I had
for my journey mentioned every place
where l stopped, and was told that
all Of my doings were known and re-
corded. 1 was taken into some of the
rooms of the police stations. and shown
cards upon which were the names of the
foreigners then in Japan, and it was al
most impossible for a native to escape
the Argus eyes of the police. Tokyo has
it's rogues' gallery, and / looked for some
time over the murderers' book and took
away q souvenir of a half dozen speci-
mems. / would say, however, that crime
Is by no means more common in Japan
l than it is in America, and that the po-
lice would Only give me the photographs
Of prisoners who had. been executed
The police organization is excellent, and
it Is modelled somewhat after that of
France. The officers all dress in Euro
pean clothes, and they tie their prisoners
with ropes and drive or drag them to
Jail.
Well, the chief of police t~elephoned to
the prison and made an appointment for
as for the next day. We rode in jinriki-
shas to the wharves opposite the island,
and we were carried over this prisoners
Styx in one of the prison boats by a
red-gowned Japanese in a yellow straw
hat, which fitted down over his face
like a ~cornucopia, Inc were landed on
the green shores of a beautiful island.
AS we got out of the boats a soldier
dressed in white duck met US. and
passed us on to the reception house of
the prison. The chief of the pe~nitentiary
took us in hand. and his private secre-
cary, a man with a face like a withered
apple and eyes like a snake went with
us. This man had a roll of and
a pencil in his hand and he usually
stood Just behind me. Once or twice I
turned quickly. and 1 noted that every
word / said was taken down in japanese
as soon as my interpreter had translated
my questions. He probably took down
the answers of the superintendent, and,
as I shall send this letter to the peni-
tertiary, they will probably be able to
tell whether my statements are correct.
IN THE PRISONS.
This penitentiary ontain $500 pris-
| oners. who are engaged in all sorts of
labor, and who form a complete exhibit
ton of industrial Japan. The buildings
! are long, one-story structures. more like
stables and factories than prisons. They
cover many acres. and they are made
of wood. with roofs Of japanese tiles.
They have no windows, but the upper
| part of the walls are made of heavy lat
| tiee or wooden bars, and there is no lack
| of ventilation. From the ground to your
shoulder the walls are boarded. and
III LlCSS 49, eoO0<
four feet wide, and higher still are more
boards between the lattice and the roof
Some of the buildings are shops and
other are. dermitories, bath rooms,
Kitchens. and a few contained cells for
punishment. The work shops are about
two hundred feet long by one hundred
feet wide. Many of them are foored,
but in some the orkm stand upon
the ground.
| We first entered the kitchen. where
the cooks We're dishing out the food for
the prisoners. 1t consisted of rice and
| barley, mixed together and forming a
| sort of dry mush. There were also little
dishes of picked turnips and a stew of
horse meat and potatoes. The food was
| served out in wooden measures. each
prisoner getting about a pint of mush,
a tablespoonful Of pickles n a measure
of soup or stew. / tried everything,
while the superintendent and the prison
| ers looked on and watched me. The
| much was not bad. and I ate a mouth
full without trouble. The pickles / nib
| bled at successfully, and then tried a
/ section of the horse meat stew. With
the indiscretien of Ignorance, i picked
up with my chop-sticks a piece of horse
meat as big as your thumb and put II
| into my mouth. The m 1t touched
my tongue ] knew ] had made a mis-
take. 1t was not at all appetizing, and
Is was AZ tough as sole-leather. 1t must
| have come from, "A VERY Ole horse and