Photos: Ageing Japan copes with swelling ranks of elderly prisoners

The number of prisoners aged 60 or older has risen 7% from a decade ago to 9,308, and made up 19% of the entire prison population in Japan in 2016. That compares with only 6 % of that age bracket in the United States, and about 11% in South Korea. In a rare look inside a Japanese prison, Reuters visited the Tokushima facility and interviewed inmates who spend most of their days in special cells that sleep four or five, engaged in paper-folding projects and other light tasks.

Updated on: Mar 16, 2018 9:38 AM IST

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A gaunt, 92-year-old man in a wheelchair sunbathes in a narrow courtyard, motionless. Nearby, a few dozen other elderly men hair exercise slowly as an instructor gently calls out, “Don’t strain yourselves.” The man in the wheelchair is not in a nursing home. He is in prison, serving a life sentence for murder and rape. The others nearby are also serving time. (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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Their prison, in Tokushima, 520 km west of Tokyo, converted a building to house elderly inmates, putting itself at the forefront of an effort to cope with Japan’s greying prison population. Prisoners aged 60 or older made 19% of the entire prison population in Japan in 2016. This compares with only 6% of that age bracket in the US and about 11% in South Korea. (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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About two dozen prisoners live, eat and work in this special building set aside for elderly prisoners who cannot do regular work such as making shoes and underwear. Inmates here spend most of their days in large cells that sleep four or five, engaged in paper-folding projects and other light tasks. (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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“I have a heart condition and used to collapse often at the (prison) factory,” said an 81-year-old inmate, imprisoned for life for killing a taxi driver and injuring another person six decades ago. Despite his life sentence, he has been released twice on parole, but wound up back in prison after parole violations. He hopes he will be paroled again so he can see his 103-year-old mother. (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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The prison tries to ensure ageing prisoners stay healthy without making conditions too comfortable, said Kenji Yamaguchi, the treatment director there. “As they await their eventual release, we also want to see them leave in good health,” Yamaguchi said. “Some may think we are cutting them too much slack. But their freedom is still restricted considerably. It’s not exactly a comfortable life.” (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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Talking is forbidden during working hours, cells have no air conditioning, and prisoners can only bathe twice a week in winter and three times a week in summer. Calls to 13 of Japan’s major prisons by Reuters showed that none has a separate facility where aged prisoners are allowed to sleep and work in their cells, instead of marching every morning to a prison factory. (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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Workers chop up noodles and other foods for those who have difficulty chewing and swallowing. The prison also employs a caregiver trained in working with the elderly for those in its hospital ward, including the 92-year-old man serving a life sentence. (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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Elderly inmates perform a slow-paced exercise at the Tokushima prison. Returning to life outside can be tough for older men. “If you are young, you can find a job and have a chance to lead a normal life,” said Yasuyuki Deguchi, a professor at Tokyo Future University. “The lack of employment opportunities combined with labelling as an ex-convict makes reintegration difficult for the elderly.” (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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A prison officer bows to a grave for inmates. “I personally know people who willingly go back to prison,” said one ex-convict, who is staying at a halfway house in Tokyo after being released from prison in October. “As long as you are in prison, you get meals and a room.” (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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Seven and a half years through a 13-year sentence for murder, this man in his early 70s in the Tokushima prison said he was already bracing for the day he gets out. “To be honest, I feel nothing but anxiety,” he said. (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)

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“I have misgivings and concerns that it’s going to be difficult adaptation to the outside world. I don’t even know anything about smart phones. I must try not to think that I could be better off staying here,” he said. (Toru Hanai / REUTERS)