Kevin Gowen wrote:

> Eric Takabayashi wrote:
> > Kevin Gowen wrote:
> >
> >> Eric Takabayashi wrote:
> >>> "John W." wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Michael Cash <mikecash@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote in message
> >>>> news:<dfbedvo8unr7h4ogjrljejiribbeapder1@4ax.com>...
> >>>>> A Buddhist priest was found dead, a porno magazine in his left
> >>>>> hand, his pecker in his right hand, and with "DNA" splattered all
> >>>>> over himself. The medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
> >>>>>
> >>>> What a way to go.
> >>>
> >>> What does the Mainichi reader say to this instead?
> >>>
> >>> http://tinyurl.com/d1ww
> >>>
> >>> Elderly man kills wife for not making breakfast
> >>>
> >>> MITO -- A 74-year-old man who fatally struck his wife with a lump of
> >>> wood because she didn't make him breakfast has been arrested, police
> >>> said.
> >>>
> >>> The eldest son of Kiyoko Kataoka visited his parents' home in
> >>> Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, shortly before 5 p.m., Thursday, and
> >>> found his 63-year-old mother, who was bleeding from the head, dead.
> >>
> >> I don't know what the Mainichi reader says, but I am appalled.
> >
> > Unfortunately, the man is likely to be fed on a regular basis in
> > prison.
>
> Now I am even more appalled, if that is possible.

It is too bad you did not see the documentary about a jail in Onomichi,
Hiroshima, in mid December. Here is what I wrote about it:

Tamori and Yuko Endo's Super News Special tonight from 7 to 9 pm had among
its features elderly shoplifters, multiple personality disorder, fraudulent
fur salespeople, o-gyaru and women who can't clean up.

They also had a feature on Onomichi Prison. I hadn't even ever heard (and
I've asked around) that there was a prison so near by.

Onomichi Prison is basically described as an old folks' home. (The exact
nomenclature was not "keimusho".) The average age of inmates is 72 years
old, and men were openly shown hobbling around and grabbing at provided
handrails along the walls. One old man could not make it through roll call,
and hobbled back to his work station to sit on a stool. The oldest inmate
is 86.

Being a prison, they work six hours a day making handcrafts such as
beadwork, with a two hour break, during which they were shown playing
shogi, reading the paper or just walking around.

They are held in private cells of three tatami in size, plus a toilet. A
reproduction was set up in the studio. There is a bookshelf/butsudan on
wall, and a TV. Because of their age, there is a handrail next to the
toilet, which could be used as a weapon under other circumstances. They
also have four blankets instead of three, as well as a hot water bottle.

They are allowed two baths a week, in what looks like a perfectly ordinary
small bath house finished in wood.

Dinner is served at half past four. Their food is also made to be soft,
liquid, or cut small, and specially prepared for people with bad teeth. A
sample meal (teriyaki!) was provided in the studio, which Tamori and the
others declared "Oishi, Oishi!" "I could eat this every day" claimed
Tamori.

Some inmates were allowed to be interviewed, on camera. They seemed like
normal old men (with tattoos). "Freedom is best" said one, but a couple
said life in prison was better. Some men were shown standing on what looked
like a storage shed, holding themselves up and peering over the barbed wire
topped wall. The wall was covered with colorful murals of cartoon
characters.

Guards were not interviewed, and the place looked on the inside, for all
intents and purposes, like an old folk's home.

Outside the prison is a large nameless gravestone for deceased inmates.

A crying 72 year own man was shown being released from prison. It was his
15th time in prison, and he'd been in prison since he was a young man. He
put on an old green suit, a black leather (!) shirt and tie, and picked up
the 69,000 yen (his last salary) he came in with three years earlier.
Stylish old fella.

The camera crew tagged along. He squatted down at the train platform
suddenly, complaining of nausea. His body was not used to the rhythm of
life outside, he said.

Riding the train, he began to brighten looking at the scenery. It's good,
he said. Arriving in Shimonoseki, he promised to try not to go back to
prison.

That was in spring. Eight months later, the camera crew went to check on
him at his home.

His home was a hovel, completely constructed of rusting corrugated roofing.
All was silent.

A neighbor said he was back in prison, about a month after he got home, for
shoplifting.

They let themselves into the house, exactly as he had left it, full of
trash and debris. The house had no water, no gas, and no electricity. He
had had no money or food, and lived on handouts from neighbors. He left a
postcard apologizing to the neighbor. Just before he would have gone on
public assistance, he stole a razor and other things from the supermarket.

Originally held in Shimonoseki, he was returned for another three years to
Onomichi Prison.

[snip]

Particularly in a place like Japan where prisons have a reputation for
being so tough, it is pathetic that old men would consider prison a better
place to be than outside.