If that's your punishment, then all of Japan is in prison.

[Neo-Rio]

http://www.canada.com/news/oddities/story.html?id=b14c57c8-4968-48bf-83ae-00b96f3bb66b

So, what's the difference between a prisoner and a hire-worker?
Nothing!!!

TOKYO (AP) - Need workers? Japan's penal system has the answer: prison labour.

The Justice Ministry began advertising its captive labour supply on its website this year in hopes of getting more company work orders as the prison population rises. The advertisement, started in March, praises the benefits of labour in prison, outlines the types of products available and provides links and phone numbers for companies to call.

............. Shotaro Watanabe, an office at the Correction Bureau, said prison factories were also having troubles because the inmate population is aging and workers there are not as productive as they used to be.

[dingosatemybaby]

Great topic title, Neo-Rio!

[FG Lurker]

http://www.canada.com/news/oddities/story.html?id=b14c57c8-4968-48bf-83ae-00b96f3bb66b

So, what's the difference between a prisoner and a hire-worker?
Nothing!!!

Well, salary... I can't remember exactly what those guys earn, but it's only a few hundred yen per day if memory serves. If you ever find plastic goods in a 100yen shop that are made in Japan there is a good chance they are prison-made. I know this because I used to know a family that made plastic goods for 100yen shops and the only way they could make them cheaply enough was with prison labour!

That said, some of the salaried workers I see certainly seem a lot more like prisoners than free citizens...

[Buraku]

some slave labour using the prison system, Nick Baker and etto_neh's friend will soon be whipped and beatn into working for the greatest of the Jpn economy

too bad they beat Arjang Mehrpooran to death

[FG Lurker]

some slave labour using the prison system

It's better than the "club med" prisons that are so common in the west these days...

[Buraku]

club med, and a heap of other systems in the west are very fucked up and unfair

however my point was more about folk who are in jail doing time, yeah its true if you do the crime then go to jail
but how many oyaji gropers or Yakuza gangsters are being arrested ??

You know how the J-cops work, they spot a gaijin without an ID card, on a bicycle, or just listen to telephoned complaints from xenophobic neighbors...and suddenly a gaijin is in the slammer. People like Tao Yaping, Nick Baker, Mainali or Mousavi already had a bad time without Japan adding an extra slave labor system on top of it all

[inthebubble]

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=22396&archive=true

Words straight from the horses mouth.

[FG Lurker]

club med, and a heap of other systems in the west are very fucked up and unfair

however my point was more about folk who are in jail doing time, yeah its true if you do the crime then go to jail but how many oyaji gropers or Yakuza gangsters are being arrested ??

Yeah, I agree. A more equal enforcement of the law in all countries is would be a big improvement.

You know how the J-cops work, they spot a gaijin without an ID card, on a bicycle, or just listen to telephoned complaints from xenophobic neighbors...and suddenly a gaijin is in the slammer.

I just had my very first extended discussion with a Japanese police office three days ago (after 10+ years in Japan) and I came away very impressed. I talked to 4 different cops and they all treated me as I would expect and there was no bias against me as a foreigner. (See Beyond Fucked for info on the accident if interested.)

Certainly there are problems with some cops here and of course that has to change & improve. For some balance I would compare the number of problems foreigners have in the US vs the number of problems in Japan... I most definitely would not want to be an Arabic man in the US these days, and historically Blacks have had huge problems with the cops. Remember that guy who got shot 10 times while reaching for his wallet awhile back?

Japan needs to improve....but I wouldn't say it is the worst of developed countries.

People like Tao Yaping, Nick Baker, Mainali or Mousavi already had a bad time without Japan adding an extra slave labor system on top of it all

I think it is voluntary actually. But given the choice between sitting on my ass in a cell all day and participating in some work, I know which I would choose.