Tokyo Detention House
The Tokyo Detention House[1] (東京拘置所, Tōkyō Kōchisho) is a correctional facility in Katsushika, Tokyo.[2] A part of the penal system of Japan, it is operated by the Ministry of Justice. It is one of seven detention houses in Japan, which detain people awaiting trial, and criminals awaiting execution.
Location | Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan 1-35-1 |
---|---|
Status | In operation |
Capacity | 3010 |
Opened | 1879 |
Managed by | Ministry of Justice (Japan), Tokyo correctional province |
Execution chamber
One of Japan's seven execution chambers is in this facility. Hanging is Japan's method of execution. The execution chamber in Tokyo has a trap door. As the condemned dies, their body falls into a room below the execution chamber, and in that room the death is confirmed.[3] Before the condemned is executed, they pass a statue of Amida Nyorai (Amitābha), one of the Buddhas. The execution room is in two sections, with both of them together the size of a 15 tatami mat room.[2]
Notable prisoners
- Kiyoshi Miki[4]
- Shoko Asahara (Hanged 6 July 2018)[5]
- Richard Sorge[6]
- Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka[7][8]
- Carlos Ghosn[9]
- Norio Nagayama (Hanged 1 August 1997)
- Tsutomu Miyazaki[10] (Hanged in 17 June 2008)
- Masahiro Kanagawa[11] (Hanged 21 February 2013)
- Seiichi Endo (Hanged 6 July 2018)
- Yukio Seki (Hanged 26 November 1993)
- Teruhiko Seki (Hanged 19 December 2017)
- Hideki Kanda (Hanged 1 August 1997)
- Toru Toyoda (Hanged 26 July 2018)
- Kenichi Hirose (Hanged 26 July 2018)
- Seiha Fujima (Hanged 7 December 2007)
- Mitsuo Yabe (Hanged 30 September 1987)
- Koichi Shoji (Hanged 2 August 2019)
- Yoshio Iwamoto (Hanged 27 August 2007)
References
- "Penal Institutions in Japan Archived 2010-07-03 at the Wayback Machine." Ministry of Justice. Retrieved on August 27, 2010. Text found in Google search says "(Front cover: Tokyo Detention House)"
- "Diet members tour execution chamber." The Japan Times. Thursday July 24, 2003. Retrieved on August 27, 2010.
- Lendon, Brad. "Japan reveals long-secretive execution process." CNN. August 27, 2010. Retrieved on August 27, 2010.
- Eiji Takemae (1 January 2003). Allied Occupation of Japan. A&C Black. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-8264-1521-9.
- "Aum Shinrikyo: Japan executes cult leader Shoko Asahara". BBC News. July 4, 2018.
Shoko Asahara's execution, at a Tokyo detention house on Friday morning, was confirmed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
- United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities (1951). Hearings on American Aspects of the Richard Sorge Spy Case: Based on Testimony of Mitsusada Yoshikawa and Maj. Gen. Charles A. Willoughby. Hearings. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 1148–1149.
- "The World: Tanaka: Prisoner of 'Money Power'." Time. Monday August 9, 1976. Retrieved on August 29, 2010. "The spartan cell is no different from that of any ordinary inmate at the Tokyo House of Detention—"
- Japan Quarterly. Asahi Shimbun. 1977. p. 128.
- The Rise and Fall of Carlos Ghosn, NY Times, December 30, 2018
- "AFP: Japan executes notorious cannibal killer". 2013-07-09. Archived from the original on 2013-07-09. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
- "Japan hangs three death row inmates". 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2019-03-22.