TOKYO - Tokyo's Fuchu Prison is adapting its meals and living arrangements to a growing foreign inmate population, with about one in four prisoners coming from overseas and staff balancing religious, cultural and dietary needs against tight budgets and the demands of running one of Japan's largest prisons.
Fuchu Prison houses 1,735 inmates, including 467 from 61 countries and regions, the largest number of foreign prisoners at any prison in Japan. Foreign inmates account for roughly one-quarter of the prison population.
Of 74 prisons and related correctional facilities nationwide, only five, including Fuchu Prison, have specialized sections for foreign inmates, helping explain the unusually high proportion at the Tokyo facility.
Officials say differences in language, culture and customs can make it difficult to provide appropriate treatment for each inmate.
One measure is a dedicated housing area for foreign prisoners with about 200 individual rooms. While Japanese inmates generally sleep on futons over tatami mats, foreign prisoners are housed in rooms with flooring and beds.
The rooms are also generally used on a single-occupancy basis. Prison officials said the arrangement reflects concerns over differences in customs that can lead to disputes, as well as past cases in which groups of foreign inmates planned and carried out escape attempts.
Food has become another major challenge.
At the prison kitchen, 36 inmates with good disciplinary records prepare meals for about 1,700 Japanese and foreign prisoners.
On one day, the main dinner dish was stamina-style grilled pork. In a separate large pot, cooks prepared an alternative using freeze-dried tofu instead of pork for inmates who cannot eat pork for religious reasons.
About 40 inmates received the pork-free meal that day.
One foreign inmate explained that pork was the only meat he could not eat for religious reasons.
The prison also offers vegetarian meals and, in some cases, replaces rice with bread to accommodate religious and cultural differences.
Knives and other cutting tools in the kitchen are tightly controlled. Cooking sake and mirin are not used because officials want to prevent inmates from directly consuming alcohol-containing seasonings.
Deciding what to serve is the subject of a monthly menu meeting, where staff review detailed meal plans prepared by a dietitian and discuss whether specific ingredients are suitable for foreign and other inmates.
Officials also distribute food questionnaires in 28 languages as they try to better understand inmate preferences and reactions to meals.
The food budget, however, leaves little room for flexibility.
The daily food allowance for each inmate is fixed at 592.22 yen for three meals, all funded by taxpayers.
Rising food prices have made it increasingly difficult to stay within that limit. A prison official said meat prices in particular have risen to about 1.5 times last year's level, putting significant pressure on the budget.
Officials said they would like to meet as many requests as possible but cannot accommodate every preference.
Because Fuchu remains a Japanese prison, staff also want foreign inmates to become accustomed to Japanese-style food rather than designing entirely separate meals for each individual.
Prison officials also have to consider fairness between foreign and Japanese inmates. Giving foreign prisoners special treatment could create resentment among Japanese inmates, they said.
Meals are therefore prepared not only with nutrition in mind but also with an emphasis on avoiding friction and helping inmates remain calm.
Food has caused disputes in the past, including arguments over portion sizes and cooking methods, prompting staff to pay close attention to even small differences in how meals are prepared and served.
As the share of foreign inmates continues to rise, Fuchu Prison is being forced to reconsider long-established practices and find ways to accommodate increasingly diverse backgrounds without undermining security, fairness or financial limits.
Source: FNN
