Practically
everything you ever wanted to know about Japanese police lockups, detention
centers, prisons, and juvenile halls but were afraid to ask. Author Azuchi Shigeru
spent 15 years in the system for murder, and it is the voice of personal experience
which leads you through this behind-the-scenes look at a portion of Japanese
society which seems to get left out of any Intro-to-Japan sort of material I
have ever encountered.This book is an engaging read. Commissioned by the publishers to produce a sort of "handbook" on the Japanese penal system for the layperson, the author has succeeded in presenting his readers with an informative and enlightening volume.
Azuchi is the author of several other books dealing with the Japanese penal system and currently devotes much of his time to volunteer work as a social counsellor.