Original version

BBC World Service Australasia

Assignment

Factual

Investigations and journeys into the heart of global events from BBC correspondents.

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

Assignment: Japan's Elderly Crime Wave

Documentaries

News

Elderly criminals in Japan

31/01/2019 GMT

Japan's Elderly Crime Wave

BBC World Service - Assignment, Japan's Elderly Crime Wave

Elderly pensioners in Japan commit petty crimes so that they can be sent to prison

The elderly pensioners in Japan committing petty crimes so that they can be sent to prison.

Elderly pensioners in Japan are committing petty crimes so that they can be sent to prison. One in five of all prisoners in Japan are now over 65. The number has quadrupled in the last two decades, a result it seems of rising elderly poverty and loneliness, as seniors become increasingly cut-off from their over-worked offspring. In jail old people at least get a bed, a routine and a hot meal, and for many, as Ed discovers, the outside world can seem like a threatening place. For the prison authorities it means an increasingly ageing population behind bars and the challenges of dealing with a range of geriatric health issues. 

Produced and reported by Ed Butler.

(Image: Elderly Inmate "Kita-san" at Fuchu Prison, Tokyo. Credit: BBC)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Assignment

Japan's Elderly Crime Wave

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Australasia

About BBC World Service