Recently I had the opportunity to visit a close relative in Fuchu Prison, Greater Tokyo.

My relative (whom I shall call James for this story's sake) had been arrested and found guilty of smuggling narcotics into Japan in the lining of his suitcase. His charge was later reduced to something like "reckless behaviour whilst entering the country" as the courts believed he was unaware of the drugs being in his luggage.

Anyway, to cut a very long story short; he is now serving approx 3 years in Fuchu prison. The prison regime is very tough and there are many restricitons on mail and visits. He begins his prison life at the lowest disciplinary level and has to earn promotion through good behaviour and hard work.

At the moment he is only allowed to send one letter a month and have one 30 minute visit monthly. The letters and visits only applly to close relatives; parent, spouse, sibling, child.

As I was able to travel to Tokyo quite easily, I took the opportunity of using two months worth of visits. So half an hour one day (the last day of the month) and the same on the next day as it was the first of the month.
I liaised with the British Consulate who were extremely helpful and had all the arrangements made for me, by them.

I arrived at the prison with my heart in my mouth - as I don't speak Japanese and I had read so many horror stories about Japanese prison conditions etc. I have visited many prisons worldwide, so was not unused to the rules and regulations of various institutions; I was just afraid that I would do something very wrong and not be able to understand what I had done. (It seems quite an irrational fear, now!)

Well, what a surprise! I was greeted by a kind receptionist in the gate house who smiled, nodded and watched as I fumbled with my dictionary and phrase book. I don't know how she kept a straight face really.
Sensibly, she then fetched an officer who spoke wonderful English. He came and helped me fill in the forms that I needed and talked me through the whole procedure. I had brought James some books and we had to fill in forms for each book. It's funny when you are confronted with a written language in which you don't even recognise the characters, it's like being unable to read, like being a little child again and feeling very helpless.

We struggled on regardless of my total inability to understand anything, I could have been ordering pizza or signing a credit card agreement - who knows?

Once the forms were filled in, they sat me in the waiting room, after having left my passport and bag in a locker - which made me very nervous to say the least! I was told that when my number (5) was called that I was to open the big sliding door and step inside, proceeding to booth number five.

My kind English-speaking helper then left me to watch the television - showing some kind of chat show I think - and told me to listen for number five over the tannoy. Which normally wouldn't have worried me, except I don't know what "five " sounds like in Japanese.

So I sat, trembling and straining my ears at each announcement.

Would I know they meant me?
Would it be a contact visit?
What was behind door number five?.................

keep going! this is very interesting!

And Then!!!!!!! Keltria go gets :beer: even though she does not drink :fb: Jumps in anticipation to know what happens, and then :faint: 's when she's about to find out .....

ladyarkles- please please continue with your experiences at Fuchu !

Ok.....I'm waiting patiently...tell me more...please:D

and....???(I always suspected yiou of leading an utterly fascinating life!)

????????????next

Thanks for sharing I can't wait to hear the rest!

and....???(I always suspected yiou of leading an utterly fascinating life!)
Doesn't she???? Rachel is my new HERO!!!

Come on, now.....I have no patience whatsoever and I'm DYING to know the rest of this.......

ok come on put us at ease what happens next???

I'm almost out of popcorn...come on! :) It's not fair to stop that close to climax!:(

I'm special....I know how the visit went!! Just being a major Kimmy for a moment!!

Rach...tell them the rest!!! And BTW...Rach is the BOMB!!!

Love You,

Kimmy

At the risk of saying something completely random and hijacking your thread.....I just want to say "please go on"
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ........Unless you want me to tell you about my day:D

The chat show blared on and on. The whole thing seemed to involve an interesting way to put pants on a poodle. The other people waiting were totally engrossed and laughing at regular intervals. It was hard for me to get the full gist as I wasn't picking up any of the words except for "Pepsi", "Nevada" and "Abraham Lincoln" . every time they said "Nevada"; the poodle was rotated on a sparkly chopping-board thing to the accompaniment of a psycho-pop tune played on a mouth organ. I must have spent a good five minutes, mouth agape, trying to figure this show out, before the tannoy crackled into life.

"mushumigo disshimas hindahugudeska shin!" (or something very much like it!) came the announcement. The whole waiting room turned and smiled at me, so I gave them all a coy little wave. My mum always told me: if in doubt be friendly!

"Number five!" screeched the speaker, more insistently.
Ooh, that was me!
I leapt from my chair, startling an old lady who was deeply involved in the poodle show.
"Number Five!"

I quickly walked round the corner to be confronted with an office full of guards behind the glass partition. They were all giggling and I think I might have been a bit of a novelty around Fuchu Prison. They all smiled, bowed and pointed towards the big sliding door. Gesturing for me to pull it to my left to enter. I approached the handle with trepidation. This really was the test. What would I find behind there? Would I ever bloody get out again?

I pulled the handle and stepped inside to be be confronted with five more doors. It was like a bad episode of The Twilight Zone. I had visions of all kinds of things going on behind these doors. Maybe one was a hair salon; two might have been a laundromat; maybe door number three concealed a swimming pool! I slid the entrance door shut behind and walked towards the door marked "five". This was it, no going back now.

Upon opening the door I found and entered a large visiting booth. On my side of the glass were three chairs and on the other side were another three. The glass reached from floor to just below waist height where it became a desk-like surface on both sides. In the bottom six inches between the table top and glass was a silver grille. At the back of the other side of the booth was a door with a vertical slit window. I only had a few seconds to take this all is as from the corridor behind I heard the familiar sound of keys and footfall. My heart flew up into my mouth as the footsteps stopped by my booth. Through the glass I could see the hats of the guards as they unlocked the door.

I found that the guards in this prison were all remarkably smartly dressed. White shirts and ties, light blue hats and jackets showing their stripes and pips. The staff seemed remarkably healthy; average height 5' 10', average weight about 160 pounds. they did not look anything like the officers I have seen in other western prisons who have been so huge I can't imagine them being able to walk let alone run, if the situation required it! Maybe the Japanese staff are encouraged to stay in shape, perhaps they have a fitness program for the staff like they do in some of the big Japanese corporations.

Anyway, I digress. The door on the other side of the glass slid open and there stood my baby brother! He had on a green jacket and trousers, a pale blue undershirt and a yellow cloth cap. He entered the tiny room with a guard and a civilian worker. I was so relieved to see that he was not cuffed or shackled, in fact none of the prisoners I had seen moving around the grounds were. This is in total contrast to Thailand, where I was horrified to see men chained together with belly chains and shackled throughout the whole visit. (That's another story!)

James removed his hat and I could see he must have had his head shaved, the first time I had seen him bald like that. He had lots of gaps where hair obviously wasn't growing properly, he just looked so vulnerable.
We all sat down; James, the guard, the interpreter and myself. (Regulations state that visitors who do not speak Japanese must have a intrepreter to note down the contents of the conversations that take place.) I smiled at the two members of staff and nodded hello. The interpreter was a middle aged woman with a pad and pencil and the guard just looked rather bored, not at all thrilled to sit through half an hour of talk in a language he couldn't understand.

Well, I was now about to find out just how much I could say to James. Whether I would need to direct my remarks to the woman or not. I was conscious of the thirty minute limit and the inability to ask him how he really was.

My palms sweated and I realised that I had my fists clenched with anxiety.
I cleared my dry throat and said "Hello, Jim."

Sigh, this is like watching DragonBallZ.... You always gotta wait till tomorrow to find out whats gonna happen next... So i sit and I wait...

Gosh Rach, bring the end of the story girl !!!

Phil waiting....

You'll have to wait til Monday, cos my muse is off-line for the weekend!
ha ha
:D

Girl What A Cliff Hanger Lol :)

:eek: I am so anxious to hear what happened!

:( Oh, you're bad! Finish the story! :)

Deb

I'm still waiting....patientley! C'mon and tell us the rest.....

:( Oh, you're bad! Finish the story! :)

Deb I agree with Deb (again...and again...and again :) ...somehow I always agree with Deb...or almost always)

Again!? *sigh*

Hey Rach!!! IT'S MONDAY!!! We are all dying to hear the next segment here!!!!

And then.....

And Then?????

rach are u gonna circle the airport some more or big this baby in?

Sorry had a strenuous day yesterday, had to go for an emergency facial! Nothing like tropical sun to ruin your skin!
Ok, let me get a big cuppa and then I'll be back.
:)

Just how big is this cuppa??? You've been gone for 20 minutes!!! Come on - do tell more!!!

Jimmy smiled and leaned forward, putting his hand against the glass.
"Hello Sis", his voice was clear, even though there was a barrier between us, "Thanks for coming."
I put my own sweaty palm to his; and, when we removed them, I realised we had both left heated imprints on the smooth surface. It wasn't just me that was nervous about this whole situation.

We all sat down, Jim; Mr Bored-Guard; Ms Efficiency and myself.
Actually, the first thing I wanted to do when I finally got to see Jim was to kick his behind so hard he squealed; just like our childhood encounters all over again! Luckily for him there was a quarter of an inch of toughened glass between us.

Guards and translators forgotten, we quickly lapsed into our usual flow of banter and sarcasm - well, we are British after all.
Yes, he was fine; yes, he was getting everyone's letters. No, he didn't need anything apart from books; yes he had heard from the consulate; no, he didn't have any urgent messages; yes, he was very safe (thankfully because he is kept seperate from other prioners as he is non-Japanese -there were no problems in that respect). All of the questions that the rest of the family had made me memorise came spilling out as I relaxed a little in the strange environment.

After a few minutes of rapid-fire speech, we remembered the clerk who was frantically trying to spell "blinding geezer" and "Worcestershire". Jim asked if she needed us to stop every few minutes to catch up, but she said that she was fine and we could carry on.

Obviously, there were things that were tricky to discuss. I really wanted to know what his living conditions were like and whether the regime was as brutal as we had been led to believe. I had googled "Japanese Prisons" and had been horrified by what I had read and seen. Having to sleep and sit in various positions as regulated; silence to be observed except when permission had been given to speak; forced and menial labour.
It all hearkened back to the old Victorian penitentiaries that disgraced our society before there were wide sweeping penal reforms in the UK. Mind you, in Britain we are still housing some prisoners in institutions that were built in the 1840's and have only recently (past 20 years) had plumbing put in so that prisoners no longer have to "slop out" every day.

The thirty minutes flew by. It was like watching sand racing through an hourglass! Jim looked well; he didn't have that prison "blue" that I have seen so often. He told me that he had been doing a lot of marching and was learning to stand to attention. I wanted to shout "Marching!! this is the twenty-first century!!" but all I could manage was "Wow, what great exercise and getting lots of sunlight, too. Smashing!" I hate trying to be Pollyanna when all I want to be is Garfield. He said that for the first three weeks he had eaten very little as they had not arranged his vegetarian diet, but was now on track.


The prison had finally placed him in a work detail; he was in the middle of a training week. He was learning to tie different kinds of knots - I have no idea what they will do with all of these, but I suspect in the room next door, people are learning how to untie knotty string.
We talked a little of his baby son - whom he has never seen - he said he had received all of the pictures but couldn't keep them, he could look at them though, before they took them away. He is only allowed to keep ten letters at any one time, so had to try and digest everything when it arrived before it was removed.

Suddenly, the grumpy guard who had been softly snoring woke himself up and held up two fingers by way of a warning that the visit was nearly over. We began to say our goodbyes. Jim had asked me to find him a writing book so he could improve his Japanese, I promised to bring one in when I visited the next day. He was learning Thai and Japanese in his free time. When he is released - latest date is 2009 - he wants to do a PHD in linguistics, way to go, Jim!

Waving like a lunatic, I stepped back out of the cubicle and shut the door behind me. I wanted to cry and laugh all at the same time. It had been heartbreaking and hilarious, simultaneously. Walking back through the office the gaggle of guards behind the desk had doubled and they all smiled and bowed as I made my way out, pausing at the locker to remove my passport and other belongings.

My kind interpreter, from earlier in the day, appeared from behind a doorway and walked me to the gate. He bowed very respectfully and I found myself bowing just as low. I did have respect for these people; I had seen with my own eyes that my brother was well and safe, these staff were keeping him that way. In a British prison he would have to fend entirely for himself, and Jimmy is no fighter, he's a philosophy reading poet.

I thanked the kind guard in Japanese.
"Arigato Gozaimas" I said in my best accent. His eyes lit up and he said "You are very welcome, Prisoner Sister".
In another world he may have wanted to know more about my culture and I could have asked him about his; but that was not why fate had brought us together. He had done his job with grace and compasssion and I was grateful for that.

I stepped into the gate house.

Now, all I had to do was persuade someone to phone me a cab and I could then finally get off the prison grounds. After all, I had some books to buy before I came back tomorrow to do it all again.

Arrggghhh now we have to wait AGAIN for the end of the story !!! :mad: :p

I'm glad your brother seems to be in good conditions. :)

Phil

Phil, you want me to carry on????? :eek:
Bloody hell! Well there is still the part about me kidnappping a guard to take him to the phone box; the biggest goldfish in the world; subway journeys amongst the little people; drinking hot pepsi and buying "emergency" shoes......

Get on with it!

ohhhh that sounds interesting :p

Glad that your brother is doing well and that they have sorted out is diet. They obviously treat him well, and look after him.
It's sad that he isn't allowed to keep any photo's and only 10 letters at a time, do you know why this is?.

OK! I will post FINAL bit tomorrow (I thought I had already finished but Phil is just SO demanding!) :blah:

The last part is more about what I found in Japan, I guess. It is such a cool country! :cool:

They aren't allowed to keep hardly anything in their cells, really minimal amounts of possessions. The Japanese prisoners sleep in dormitories on mats on the floor, and have to roll them up daily, so possessions would be impratical. Westerners are fortunate to have single cells.

Below some pics 1)a Japanese McDonalds and 2) The Imperial Gardens, Tokyo

:) I'm so glad your brother is doing well... The Imperial Gardens are beautiful!

You are really a gifted writer..... You have a way of making me feel as though I am right there in your descriptions and the humor you add is great!

Deb

I am glad your brother seems to be well! Your story is very well written,keep telling it!

So glad that your brother is doing well!

Can't wait to hear about your findings in Japan - and the guard kidnapping incident!!

Loved Your Story :) I Am Glad Your Brother Is Doing Alright That Means Your Are Better As Well. My Prayers Are With You Both.

Thanks for sharing your story. Im glad that your brother is doing well. :) Yes, we do wanna hear about the second day!! :D

Cool...seems all is going well....can't wait to hear more!

Great story! Glad your brother is OK. The Japanese McDonald's didn't come through (unless I didn't do it right), but it probably looks like the rest. Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!

Hi Ladyarcles... have you heard of the Nick Baker story too. He is a young man detained in Japan now for three years. I know his mum Iris. IT's a tragic event but we keep trying to do what we can to raise awareness.

Take care,
Kayt:)

Hi Ladyarcles... have you heard of the Nick Baker story too. He is a young man detained in Japan now for three years. I know his mum Iris. IT's a tragic event but we keep trying to do what we can to raise awareness.

Take care,
Kayt:)

Yes his parents and my brother's mum are in touch.
The two cases are very similar.
When I visited Fuchu I asked if he had met Nick, but he said he hadn't yet.
There is also the case of Chris Snell who I believe is now back in the UK.

Thanks for your support!
Rachel xx

Fourthly and Finally!

Having spent an interesting day nosing around the Tokyo suburbs I retired early. I wanted to get a good night’s rest to be refreshed for the following day.
I had dined on noodles(warm), ham, onion and pea sandwiches (warm), Pepsi (hot) and an ice- lolly (relatively cold – but only because I hid it under a packet of Kleenex). You may wonder why my supper was a strange combination of temperatures. Well, there was a very enthusiastic shop assistant in the Seven-Eleven. When I asked him to warm my pre-cooked meal (by my pointing at the microwave and making a “ding” noise) he thought that I wanted all of my purchases to be heated through. Which was good for noodles, passable for the sandwich - but bloody horrible for the Pepsi! Still, it is an acquired taste and once it had cooled a bit it was almost palatable.

I awoke the next day feeling exhausted. There had been an earth tremor in the night, which felt like someone kicking the bed. I had awoken with a start and tried to remember the earthquake drill. Not sure if my memory served me correctly, I stuck my passport in my bloomers and went and lay in the bath. After half an hour and no more movement I seemed to remember that it might have been the tornado drill. Well, I can’t help it, I’m bloody English and we don’t have natural disasters- well, not unless you count Sir Elton John. I spent the rest of the night staring out of the window, feeling alone and scared as I realised how fragile life was and how much I didn’t want to end up in a Japanese hospital where they might just amputate for the fun of it. I tuned in to the US forces radio that is broadcast publicly there and spent a mind numbing few hours listening to a show featuring an aeronautical engineer discussing the benefits of fertiliser in the rose garden. Don’t ask, I have no idea!

I staggered down for the hotel’s bizarrely named “ContiMental Breakfast”, the reason for which became apparent as I helped myself to bacon, sausages, fondue and turnips. Fortified by a gallon of strong coffee, having refused a large cup of pink gloop, I was ready to face the prison again.

My second visit went well, the staff remembered me and allowed me to copy from the previous day's forms. Jim was pleased to see me and twice as pleased when I told him that I had bought and deposited the books he wanted. The thirty minutes flew by and before I knew it we were saying goodbye again. I didn’t know for definite when I was going to see him again, as it is an expensive trip to make, but I promised him that when I could, I would. We pressed our hands to the glass in farewell. I left before the tears spilled out of my eyes, giving away my true emotions. I found my way back to the gate house and thanked the staff as I left.

Then, horror of horrors! I realised that I hadn’t booked a cab for my return journey and there was no chance of stopping one in the street as it wasn’t a street at all, just a long prison drive way. My feet were absolutely killing me already as I had my nice smart boots on. I realised that I couldn’t possibly make the quarter of a mile walk to the road. I had two choices; I could wait for a cab to drop someone off and then take it back to the hotel, or I could book one on the telephone.

The mime performance that I did to the reception staff should have won me an Oscar! Instead they finally understood that I didn’t want to wash their windows or commandeer a camel (you had to be there) but that I wanted to phone and book a taxi. I was not able to use their office phone but one of the guards said “phone card” and so I produced mine. He then pointed fifty yards down the drive where there was a phone box, indicating I should phone from there.

Now, therein lay the problem, no amount of me shouting “Fuchu Prison to Station Hotel” at the taxi company was going to get them to come and pick me up. So I tried to explain that; despite the staff having given me a taxi number, my possession of a phone card and the close vicinity of a phone box – I was still as helpless as a baby in a Sherman Tank. After my pretending to swoon and trying to look like a damsel in distress, the “phone card” guard realised that there really was only one way to get rid of me. He was going to have to take me to the phone box and make the call for me.

He adjusted his hat and brushed some imaginary dust from his shoulders. “Come you” he said and waved me towards the driveway. He marched towards the phone with me following at his heels, I’m not a great marcher but soon got the hang of it! We both squeezed into the box. He stood no more than five foot tall and I am five foot eight. The peak of his cap was in my mouth and his face was squashed between my rather large chest and the glass. He proceeded to make the call for me, shouting and sweating as we used up the oxygen supply very quickly.

Across the driveway was a working party tending the gardens, being overseen by a burly guard with a gun of some kind, it may have been a pistol, I don’t know. Again, I am English; we only use guns to decorate the walls and to fire over the Queen’s head on her birthday. He looked at the scene unfolding in the phone box. All he must have been able to see was a large blonde woman suffocating a much smaller guard who was shouting “Take me to the Station Hotel”. No doubt the possibility that he was witnessing a kidnap must have crossed his mind. He squinted at us, in a very determined manner, his fingers twitching above his gun. As we both extricated ourselves from the tiny booth, the overseer relaxed and took his hand away from his holster. My helper gave me back my phone card, tapped his watch and held up five fingers. For the first time in two days, I understood what someone was saying straight away. We bowed at each other and he left me to wait by the prison gate. As if by magic, the taxi came exactly five minutes later and returned me to my hotel without further incident.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to purchase some “emergency shoes”. These are shoes that you need to buy because the ones you are wearing are starting to cause you permanent damage. However, I have western size feet and Japanese women have Barbie size feet. Having decided against galoshes or football boots, I was left with the choice of either open toed sandals or a man’s brogue, as that was all they had to fit me. The sandals felt like heaven for the first twenty steps and then my poor, punished feet swelled up like barrage balloons and became two huge blisters. I hobbled back through the metro system like a giant with bunions. I had chosen rush hour to travel and so spent an excruciating hour on the train with people staring up my nose (sometimes I hate being tall) and the whole of bloody Tokyo standing on my feet! I got back to the sanctuary of my hotel room, stripped naked and hung me feet out of the window to cool down in the rain. My trip was officially over, and now I wanted to get home.

Would I do it all over again?
You bet!
I’ll let you know how it goes!

The End (definitely!!)

just remember: itchy knee son she go.... thats one two three four five in japan.. Thats where i am living for the moment.... LOL sayonnora:thumbsup:

Wow, whereabouts are you?
And what on earth are you doing there? :D

MCAS IWAKUNI Yamaguchi Prefecture. Way southern mainland. In the middle of no where lol:)



Wow, whereabouts are you?
And what on earth are you doing there? :D

Wow, is that a military thing?
Hope you are enjoying the local culture. It is a fascinating country.

Yeah its a military thingy (LOL) Japan is very fascinating, but in my mind I had imagined it being sooooooo very different and some areas are actually very westerized, so its not so bad.

Wow, is that a military thing?
Hope you are enjoying the local culture. It is a fascinating country.

Well, you will know exactly what I was talking about with the forces radio, then! lol

ROFLMAO :D :D :D

Rach you really made me laugh, your description of everything is priceless !!! :D

Thanks for such a great both movingf and entertaining thread. :)

Phil

Thanks a lot Lady for sharing the story of your visit. I enjoyed reading it very much and I am sure it will shine a lot of informational light on that prison should anyone want to know about it that has not been there.

Any chance you got any photos of the prison itself?

Thanks!
David

I found a couple pictures of the enterance to Fuchu prison in Japan that I believe are in the public domain. (If not, copyright holder, please contact me)

I like that second one - PrisonTalk.com under the name - That place is spotless - wow, kinda scary really.

Thank you for sharing this with us, I truly enjoyed reading it all!

Wow.. you really have some amazing writing skills.. I felt like I was right there with you.. Glad that your brother is doing ok, I bet he was sooo happy to see you..

Thanks for sharing with us.. I have never traveled outside of the US and love hearing about other countries and cultures

That was awesome thanks for sharing!!! But the waiting was killer!!! LOL

I found a couple pictures of the entrance to Fuchu prison in Japan that I believe are in the public domain.

Thanks David.
The first two look like the administration block. I believe that the visiting room is to the right of that building. In the second picture you can see the guard and his hat.
I don't know if those are the cells as I never got to see one. My brother has a one person cell, as he is a foreigner and he has a western bunk. You can see that the other guys have to sleep on the floor and roll up their sleeping mats every day. I suppose this is why they have very limited personal possessions. Where would they put them?

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures. I never take a camera within 200 yards of a prison, I learnt that the hard way! Besides with my luck I'd get locked up for espionage! There didn't seem to be any facilties to take pictures with the prisoners, either.

I appreciate everyone's kind remarks about my writing, thanks you are very kind!

Rach x

:( Awh Rach...does it have to end here? I have really enjoyed reading your very colorful and detailed story:D You really know how to keep someone coming back for more! Can't wait for your next adventure:)


Take Care
Mel

You are the PTO mistress of suspense, my dear Rach! Girl, I could just picture you and the small guard in the phone booth - thanks for the laugh!

Looking forward to hearing about your upcoming trip to the UK! ;) You are going to share stories, right???? :D

Aaarggh!
Are you lot never satisfied???

I'll try and post something in the PTO lounge when I get back. I'm sure I will have my usual round of disasters and embarassing moments back in the UK!
Just seems to be the way I live my life.

Rach xx