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The Japanese Are Aging So Fast That Seniors Now Make Up Over 10% of New Prison Inmates

1 minute read
By Mark Rivett-Carnac

Convicts in Japan are going gray. Seniors now account for a record 10.4% of the country’s new inmates.

While fewer people are being locked up in Japan each year, a higher percentage of those people are aged 65 and older. In 1991, just 1.3% of the newly imprisoned population were senior citizens, according to the Japan Times. This group also has a recidivism rate more than double the younger cohort’s.

Older inmates are just one symptom of Japan’s rapidly aging society. Seniors are expected to account for 40% of the total population by 2060, according to the Economist.

[Japan Times]

Inside the California Prison Where Inmates Train Rescue Dogs

Jack playing with Shelby after their morning training session.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
Inmate Marcus and a dog called Eddie in cell block A5.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
A dog named Shelby sitting inside an inmate's cell at California State Prison.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
Inmates Jack and Marcus relaxing with dogs in the late afternoon inside cell block A5.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
Inmate Martel with Chuey.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
Salaam greeting Chuey as he arrives in the prison.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
Inmates listening to instructions during a training session in cell block A5.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
Inmate Marcus leaving cell block A5 to walk in the yard with Rendell.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
Travielle sitting in the shade with a dog named Chuey during a break from their training.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
Inmate John feeding a dog named Rendell in his crate in the morning. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
A dog called Eddie is seen napping in the shade during a break from training.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois
John walking the yard with Rendell on their last day together at the prison.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

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Write to Mark Rivett-Carnac at mark.rivett-carnac@timeasia.com