Japan’s prisons overcrowded, Justice Ministry warns News
Japan’s prisons overcrowded, Justice Ministry warns

[JURIST] The Japanese Ministry of Justice has warned in a report Friday that the country's prison system is overwhelmed, with some prisons unable to accommodate any more prisoners. The system is at about 117 percent capacity, which is the highest since the Justice Ministry began keeping records in 1972. The increase has been attributed to higher violent crime rates and longer sentences. Despite the overcrowding, Japan has one of the lowest rates of incarceration in the industrial world, with only 48 of every 100,000 people incarcerated, while the US stands at 686. BBC News has more.