How many people are imprisoned in Japan?

Japan's prison population is 34,724 people. This figure aggregates all forms of detention counted by the source: sentenced prisoners, pre-trial detainees, and administrative detentions.

What is the incarceration rate in Japan?

Japan's incarceration rate is approximately 28 people per 100,000 population.

How many prisons are there in Japan?

World Prisons indexes 155 individual facilities in Japan. Each entry links to a detail page with contact information, capacity, oversight reports, and known conditions.

All countries

Asia · Eastern Asia

Japan

Q: Does Japan have the death penalty?

Japan's death-penalty status is: retentionist. Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

High confidence

Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 1 Jan 2025

Fresh · 2mo ago

Lowest incarceration rate among G7. Population has declined ~40% since the 2006 peak.

Compare Japan World Prison Brief page

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

Prison population

34,724

Year: 2025

Rate per 100,000

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

47.3%

At or under capacity

Pre-trial / remand

18.7%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

8.9%

Foreign nationals

6.9%

Figures from official sources · verified 20 May 2026 · methodology

Conditions risk — across 155 facilities

Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk

10/100

national average

2 low 153 unknown

retentionist on capital punishment. Last known execution: 2022.Methods: hangingICCPR-OP2 (death-penalty abolition protocol): not a signatory

Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

Executions by year (Amnesty International)

2019
3
2020
0
2021
3
2022
1
2023
0
2024
0

Source: Amnesty International + Cornell Death Penalty Worldwide.

2 documented human-rights cases →

How Japan compares

vs Asia (16) & global averages

Rate per 100,000this: 28 · region: 173 · global: 214

Occupancy ratethis: 47% · region: 157% · global: 125%

Pre-trial sharethis: 19% · region: 34% · global: 32%

The vertical ticks mark the global (grey) and regional (amber) means. Bars are clipped at the high end for readability.

Prison population over time

Annual figures, latest survey year

2000: 61,242-34.4% over 23y2023: 40,178

Source: World Prison Brief / unodc

Reform in Japan

All reform →

Laws, programmes, and pilots changing how Japan incarcerates — plus relevant research.

Daiyo Kangoku (substitute detention) reform debate2019
pre trial detention · proposed
Japan's daiyo kangoku system allows police to hold suspects in police cells (rather than in remand prisons) for up to 23 days before charge, with limited access to defence counsel. Human-rights bodies â including the UN Human Rights Committee and CAT â have repeatedly called for abolition.

—

Held

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See all 155 prisons in Japan →

Data completeness

100%

Score based on how many fields are populated. We surface this so you know where the gaps are.

National population: 123,360,0002025
Source-verified: 20 May 2026
Source links: 2 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.

Primary reference
World Prison Brief (ICPS, Birkbeck) — Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research
Ministry of Justice Japan â corrections — æ³åç
See /data-sources for our methodology.

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: JPN

Cite this page

Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.

APA

World Prisons. (2026). Japan — prison statistics. Retrieved July 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/countries/japan

Chicago

"Japan — prison statistics." World Prisons. Accessed July 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/countries/japan.

BibTeX

@misc{worldprisons-japan,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {Japan — prison statistics},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/countries/japan},
  urldate = {2026-07-20}
}

Conditions risk — across 155 facilities

How Japan compares

Prison population over time

Reform in Japan

Prisons in Japan

Abashiri Prison

Ai Zhi Shao Nian Yuan

Akita prison

Aoba Juvenile Training School for Girls

asahiShe Hui Fu Gui Cu Jin senta-

Bai Ming Shou Rong Suo

Ba Jie Shao Nian Yuan

BandÅ prisoner-of-war camp

Bei Hai Shao Nian Yuan

Bei Jiu Zhou Yi Liao Xing Wu Suo

Bo Mo Xue Yuan

Brig

Changikamp

Chang Qi Xing Wu Suo

Chang Ye Xing Wu Suo

Chiba Prison

Chikushi Juvenile Training School for Girls

Chong Nawa Xing Wu Suo Ba Zhong Shan Xing Wu Zhi Suo

Chuan Lu Xing Wu Suo

Da Ban Xing Wu Suo

Da Fen Xing Wu Suo

Dai Guang Xing Wu Suo

De Dao Xing Wu Suo

Duo Mo Shao Nian Yuan

Data completeness

Sources

Cite this page

Conditions risk — across 155 facilities

How Japan compares

Prison population over time

Reform in Japan

Prisons in Japan

Abashiri Prison

Ai Zhi Shao Nian Yuan

Akita prison

Aoba Juvenile Training School for Girls

asahiShe Hui Fu Gui Cu Jin senta-

Bai Ming Shou Rong Suo

Ba Jie Shao Nian Yuan

BandÅ prisoner-of-war camp

Bei Hai Shao Nian Yuan

Bei Jiu Zhou Yi Liao Xing Wu Suo

Bo Mo Xue Yuan

Brig

Changikamp

Chang Qi Xing Wu Suo

Chang Ye Xing Wu Suo

Chiba Prison

Chikushi Juvenile Training School for Girls

Chong Nawa Xing Wu Suo Ba Zhong Shan Xing Wu Zhi Suo

Chuan Lu Xing Wu Suo

Da Ban Xing Wu Suo

Da Fen Xing Wu Suo

Dai Guang Xing Wu Suo

De Dao Xing Wu Suo

Duo Mo Shao Nian Yuan

Data completeness

Sources

Cite this page

BandÅ prisoner-of-war camp

BandÅ prisoner-of-war camp