Japanese prisons graying fast as elderly crime surges amid economic slump

There are still plenty of metal bars and handcuffs. But Japaneseprisons these days have some new features — like wheelchair-friendlystair ramps, handrails in the bathrooms and nurses trained tospoon-feed inmates.

The aim is adapting prison life to a new kind of convict in Japan: the elderly one.

Likethe wider society, Japan’s prison population is rapidly aging, with thenumber of 60 years old and over inmates — more than half of themfirst-timers — tripling in the past decade and expected to rise evenfurther.

Senior prisoners in 2004 numbered 7,381, up nearly 60percent from 2000 and accounting for more than 11 percent of allinmates in Japan, the Justice Ministry says. In the U.S., prisonersaged 55 or older make up only 3 percent of inmates.

The trend is forcing Japan’s 67 prisons to make changes to adjust to the new inmates.

“Overall,their movements are slow, they have to make a lot of effort tounderstand our simple instructions. It really takes up a lot of time,”said Yusa, a correctional official at the Justice Ministry who wantedto be identified only by his family name.

Read more in the Manichi Daily News.

Ed:  The US faces its own crisis with an aging prison population–1 in 23 inmates is over 55.
To read more about the issues facing elderly prisoners and the facilities housing them, see  NELN Bibliography: The Quality of Care of Elderly Inmates in Prison.