Inside Japanese Prisons: The Truth Behind Japan's Elderly Inmates | DISPATCH | Japan HD Documentary

We gained unprecedented filming access to two Japanese prisons to find out if accusations that the system is inhumane are true. What we witnessed was staggering. Inmates must march to their worksites attached by a cord; they are not allowed to look the guards in the eye; outside of scheduled leisure hours, they must maintain absolute silence, unless they have obtained prior permission to speak.

A surprising demographic dominates the cells: the elderly. Despite the inhumane conditions, many senior Japanese citizens are deliberately committing petty crimes so they can spend their golden years behind bars in the hopes of staving off loneliness.

Join us as we discover why a country which operates on strict principles of balance and order might choose such a repressive system, and see if this may explain Japan having one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

This documentary was first released in 2020.
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