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Prison Statistics. Over each department is placed a prison superintendent, and the work of the bureau is divided amongst the three divisions. Each department has its own special work, the division being made as follows: The first department deals with everything pertaining to pardons, parole rehabilitation, leave to dwell outside granted to criminals condemned to transportation, temporary release from police surveillance, the execution of the death sentence, and other general prison business. The second department has charge of all the questions of prison labour and the revenue and expenditure of the prisons. The third department has charge of the drawing up of all the statistical reports relating to prisons and prisoners. All plans for the building or repairing of prisons are drawn up by competent architects in the architectural section of the Bureau of General Affairs in the Ministry of Justice.

There are at present 139 prisons in Japan. Of these, 4 are central prisons, and 2 are branch institutions of these; 51 are local prisons, with 82 branch institutions. The central prisons and their branches are used for the confinement of male criminals sentenced under the present Penal Code with penal servitude, and for those sentenced to imprisonment for life under the old laws in force before the promulgation of the new Penal Code. The local prisons and their branches are used for the imprisonment of male and female criminals sentenced to confinement, detention, imprisonment or attachment, and of female criminals sentenced to penal servitude. Both the central and local prisons have special governors appointed to supervise the criminals and all affairs connected with them. In the branch institutions the place of these governors is taken by specially-appointed sub-governors. The sub-governors of the branch institutions of local prisons are appointed from among the prison clerks without altering the official status of these, whereas in the branch institutions of the central prisons the sub-governors are specially-appointed officials.

Under this system there are fifty-five governors specially commissioned for the administration of central and local prisons, and two governors for the administration of the branch institutions of the central prisons. Besides these there are in all 11,995 prison functionaries, divided as follows: In connection with the central prisons there are 88 clerks and chief warders, 15 physicians, 1,071 warders, 15 chaplains, 65 instructors, and 120 employés in the labour section—in all 1,377 persons. In connection with the local prisons there are 734 clerks and chief warders, 15 interpreters, 7,037 warders, 249 instructors and warders, 227 physicians, 160 chaplains, 433 matrons for female prisoners, 633 gaolers, 390 labour instructors, 35 honorary