Tokyo Detention House Explained

Prison Name:Tokyo Detention House
東京拘置所
Location:Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan 1-35-1
Status:In operation
Capacity:3010
Opened:1879
Managed By:Ministry of Justice (Japan), Tokyo correctional province

The is a correctional facility in Katsushika, Tokyo.[1] [2] The prison, which is operated by the Ministry of Justice, is one of seven detention centres that carry out executions in Japan. It is used to detain people awaiting trial, convicted felons and those sentenced to death. In April 2019, the Special Security Response Team, a tactical response unit, was established at the TDH.[3]

Execution chamber

See main article: article and Capital punishment in Japan. One of Japan's seven execution chambers is in this facility. All executions in Japan are carried out by hanging. The execution chamber in Tokyo has a trap door, which is operated by one of the three buttons in the next-door room, which are simultaneously pressed by three prison staff members so that none of them will know who activated the drop.[4]

Before entering the execution chamber, the condemned person passes a Buddhist statue of Kannon (観音), a bodhisattva associated with compassion.[4] The execution chamber has two sections, with both of them together no larger than a 15-tatami mat room.[2] When the execution happens, the body drops into a room below the execution chamber; it is in this room where death is confirmed.[5]

Notable prisoners

External links

35.7586°N 139.8175°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Penal Institutions in Japan. Ministry of Justice. August 27, 2010. Text found in Google search says "(Front cover: Tokyo Detention House)". 27 August 2010. 3 July 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100703102710/http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000002239.pdf. dead. ."
  2. News: Diet members tour execution chamber. The Japan Times. July 24, 2003. August 27, 2010. June 5, 2012. https://archive.today/20120605010719/search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20030724a3.html. dead.
  3. Web site: 法務省:特別機動警備隊. 26 July 2022.
  4. Web site: Inside Japan's secret death chambers where prisoners are put to death. Daily Mirror. 6 July 2018.
  5. News: Japan reveals long-secretive execution process. CNN. August 27, 2010. August 27, 2010. December 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171202203054/http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/27/japan-reveals-long-secretive-execution-process/?hpt=Sbin. dead.
  6. News: . Shoko Asahara's execution, at a Tokyo detention house on Friday morning, was confirmed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. . Aum Shinrikyo: Japan executes cult leader Shoko Asahara . July 4, 2018 .
  7. News: Japan hangs three death row inmates. 2013-02-21. 2019-03-22. en-GB.
  8. Book: Eiji Takemae. Allied Occupation of Japan. 1 January 2003. A&C Black. 978-0-8264-1521-9. 239.
  9. Web site: AFP: Japan executes notorious cannibal killer. https://web.archive.org/web/20130709203449/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jNmP-nKTKmf5cYaGrRNZBaMtms2A. dead. 2013-07-09. 2013-07-09. 2019-03-22.
  10. Book: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities. Hearings on American Aspects of the Richard Sorge Spy Case: Based on Testimony of Mitsusada Yoshikawa and Maj. Gen. Charles A. Willoughby. Hearings. 1951. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1148–1149.
  11. "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—"
  12. Book: Japan Quarterly. 1977. Asahi Shimbun. 128.
  13. Book: Street Justice – Google Books . 2010-08-09. 9780312320218 . Zito . Chuck . Layden . Joe . 2003-12-17 . Macmillan . 205-215.