Japan’s choeki penalty, which mandates prison labor, has been criticized internationally. Many developed nations do not impose such a work obligation on prisoners in line with an international ...

Hanging has been Japan's sole execution method for around a century-and-a-half. Convicts are led to the gallows blindfolded, with their feet and hands cuffed. A trapdoor opens below them when several ...

But in recent years, another unexpected trend has been unfolding: In record numbers, elderly people in Japan are committing petty crimes so they can spend the rest of their days in prison.

MOSCOW (Kyodo) -- A Japanese man has been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 21,000 Belarusian rubles ($6,400) for espionage, the Eastern European nation's prosecutors said Monday.