Tochigi ¨C On the outskirts of the city of Tochigi, around 30 women dressed in powder pink uniforms and white hats sit at long tables sewing flags and soft furnishings for a private client. The room is filled with quiet concentration.
The women aren¡¯t regular workers, but some of the 456 female inmates serving out sentences at Tochigi Prison, Japan¡¯s largest prison for women. Amid fewer inmates and rising costs to maintain the facility, the prison is scheduled to close in April 2028, with the current prisoners to be relocated.
But it is a microcosm of what female prisons?across the nation face: from the increasing foreign inmate population and rising recidivism to the higher percentage of mental health issues compared to male prisoners.
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