"U.S. soldiers in Japanese jails cop sweet deal compared to natives"

[Shadow_Reaper]

I dont know what the Japanese are doing but i think it is pretty much beyond stupidity and ass kissing:

Thanks to Mainichi Shibun's website:
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwa...dm002000c.html

American military personnel doing time in Japanese jails get plenty of chances to chew the fat behind bars. And a Sunday Mainichi (4/20) report says there may be plenty more fat in the works, judging by how much these military prisoners get fed.

U.S. military criminals jailed in Japan receive 13 tons of food a year, with a daily intake allowance of around 4,000 calories -- almost double the roughly 2,620 calories dished out to Japanese prisoners in the same lockup.

U.S. military convicts are jailed in the Yokosuka Prison, a branch of the Yokohama Prison in the same city as the biggest U.S. Navy base in the country. As of the end of 2006, the most recent figures available, there were 247 prisoners incarcerated in the jail, 16 of who were members of the U.S. military.

At first glance, the menu for U.S. military prisoners rivals most fare available at posh hotels, according to information the Justice Ministry made available to Yokosuka Municipal Assembly Member Hiroshi Ichiyanagi.

On June 8, 2006, a U.S. military prisoner in Yokosuka Prison was served a breakfast of fruit, scrambled eggs, a sausage patty, French toast with jam and cereal. His lunch comprised pot roast, boiled rice, asparagus, coleslaw and baked custard. And his evening meal, meanwhile, was vegetable soup, steak with tomato sauce, curry and rice, corn, macaroni salad and spice cake.

On the same day, Japanese prisoners at the same institution were served onion in miso soup, natto fermented soybeans, grated radish and pickled vegetables. For lunch, they got twice-cooked pork, bean sprouts and marinated fish. Dinner was a croquette, macaroni salad, miso soup with egg and salted cucumber.

And it's not just food where the American military offenders are getting it better than their Japanese counterparts.

"They have individual cells about three tatami mats (around nine square meters) big and the toilets are Western-style," a journalist tells Sunday Mainichi. "They also have their own TVs and are allowed to watch some American TV shows."

Justice Ministry officials explain that the preferential treatment extended to U.S. military prisoners incarcerated in Japanese jails extends back decades.

"It apparently started around 1955, and it was a decision Japan and the United States made together in consideration of the cultural differences between the countries," a Justice Ministry Corrections Bureau spokesman tells Sunday Mainichi. "The U.S. military is paying for the costs of the food."

Even if the pricey food bills aren't a burden on Japanese taxpayers, not everyone is happy with the cushy way U.S. military prisoners are looked after.

"Jeez, they're getting treated well, aren't they? If they commit crimes in Japan, they should be treated the same as the Japanese behind prison walls," Shuichi Sanada, whose sister Yoshie Sato was savagely beaten to death in 2006 by a U.S. sailor now serving a life term in Yokosuka Prison, tells Sunday Mainichi. "Unless we improve on things like this, we'll never be able to keep crime under control." (By Ryann Connell)

[ZhuBaJie]

rape a 14-year old Japanese girl; get a room with three square meals served everyday with a TV.

fuck that shit. i'm all for bringing back prison labour, U.S. or any other country. and if they have a TV, there better not be anything on it but educational programs.

[groinpull]

"It apparently started around 1955, and it was a decision Japan and the United States made together in consideration of the cultural differences between the countries," a Justice Ministry Corrections Bureau spokesman tells Sunday Mainichi. "The U.S. military is paying for the costs of the food."

It's a small consolation knowing that the Japanese aren't paying for the accomadations.

[Shadow_Reaper]

Originally Posted by ZhuBaJie

rape a 14-year old Japanese girl; get a room with three square meals served everyday with a TV.

fuck that shit. i'm all for bringing back prison labour, U.S. or any other country. and if they have a TV, there better not be anything on it but educational programs.

word!!

technically a homeless could work his/her way to the navy commit a crime in japan and sit back and relax and enjoy life behind bars.

[Liang]

I guess that's what Japan gets for being a lap dog of America.

[Pat the Great]

Originally Posted by Shadow_Reaper

word!!

technically a homeless could work his/her way to the navy commit a crime in japan and sit back and relax and enjoy life behind bars.

right. because it's so easy to work yourself out of homelessness, and all homeless people really want is to sit around imprisoned in a foreign country.

[kikiandlala]

Actually there is a trend amongst men of retirement age to commit a petty crime and then enter into the Japanese penal system.

Perhaps the rules have changed, but there was a book called Japan the Blighted Blossom which was written in the '80s (in my opinion it was fair-handed, the writer has considerable fondness for the people and sticks up for them - what he hammered on was some of the institutionalized negative aspects that were hurting them on the whole). One thing looked at was the pension, rather than get a regular flow of money - a Japanese worker got the equivalent of 3 months of pay in a lump sum. If you didn't live a life of hardcore pennypinching, then you're fucked.

So yeah old Japanese men are doing some theft with the intention of getting caught so they can go to jail. I believe the article is in the International Herald Tribune.

As for the privileges given to US prisoners, they won the war and set the constitution so it's to be expected. As well the Manichi gave a single example of an unnamed US prisoner, without mentioning what his offence was - if the guy is in there for petty theft or something then he might be in the minimum security wing of that prison. But yeah, that prisoner has got it made in there - though the Japanese menu ain't half bad either. As for the toilets and TV,
if there was a stronger advocacy group for Japanese prisoners - they might
be able to get similar privileges as well.

[ZhuBaJie]

Originally Posted by kikiandlala

As for the privileges given to US prisoners, they won the war and set the constitution so it's to be expected.

technically it's not the constitution that give these guys special privileges, it's the military agreement between the US and Japan. there's a specific name for this agreement, but i can't remember it at the moment. the US has one with Korea and the Philippines as well, and all three are slightly different. but the basic idea is that US servicemen stationed at these places are afforded protection by the US military when they commit crimes.

[xian]

Don't forget to take care on the difference between the government and the people.

Obviously, plenty of people dislike the compromises that U.S. government pushes through with the Japanese government.

[Hater Depot]

I'd like to know how common this is for governments to do. I bet it is very common for them to try and swing better deals for employees.

Oh and the military agreement is SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement).