Japan is one of the few nations, including Indonesia and Brazil, that have seen notable increases in prison populations over the last few years, according to a report released by experts in Britain on Monday.The latest edition of the World Prison Population List, compiled by prison expert Roy Walmslay with the help of colleagues at London University, says at least 9.25 million people are held in prisons throughout the world. The global total, comprising both sentenced prisoners and those under pretrial detention, has increased by 250,000 since the figures were last published in 2005, the report says.
The report notes the last five years have seen huge prison population surges in Indonesia, at 87 percent, Brazil, at 55 percent, and Japan and Mexico, both at 30 percent.

Full story - The Japan Times (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070130a7.html)