With its bare cells, the Tokyo Detention House looks much like a high-security prison, but those who get incarcerated here, including former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, have not been convicted of any crime.
Japan’s system of refusing bail while suspects await trial, often for months, has drawn international criticism as “hostage justice.”
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Warden Shigeru Takenaka told foreign reporters on a rare tour of the austere facility on Monday that suicide prevention is critical, seeming to underline the place’s hopelessness.
But he insisted conditions are good, noting that inmates are safe from the violence he said plagues some Western prisons.
Each solitary cell has only a toilet, folded bedding, a shelf and a sink.
Ghosn, who spent 130 days at the facility, says he is innocent of financial misconduct allegations.
