NZ anti-whaler's life in Japanese prison

If Peter Bethune is convicted and jailed, he would likely be transferred to Fuchu Prison. Photo / Kentin, Wikimedia Commons

A Kiwi anti-whaling activist in Japanese detention faces ritualised routines prescribing how to eat, sleep and sit and "horrid, cold" meals - but among "genuinely nice" people, reports suggest.

New Zealand's Peter Bethune has spent two months locked up at a Japanese detention facility while he awaits trial for disrupting Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Mr Bethune boarded a Japanese whaling vessel in February to make a citizen's arrest of the captain, after his boat was destroyed in a collision.

The Japanese ship carried Mr Bethune to Tokyo where he has been charged with carrying a "sword", causing injury, vandalism, trespass and obstructing commercial activities. If convicted of the charges he could face up to 15 years in jail.

New Zealand's ambassador to Japan, Ian Kennedy, told nzherald.co.nz from Tokyo that Bethune had been held at the Tokyo Detention Facility, where he had not been allowed to make any phone calls to his family in New Zealand and instead had to communicate by mail.

"Peter Bethune told us that the food is OK and he's being treated in accordance with every other prisoner," Mr Kennedy said.

According to Japanese police, the facility has "careful" lighting, 24-hour air conditioning, and detainees can read books and listen to music as long as they do not disturb the "peace".

The official timetable is as follows:
7am: Wake up
8am: Breakfast - rice, fermented soybeans, eggs, miso soup and pickles Noon: Lunch - rice, fried potato "croquettes", curry, stir-fried vegetables, salad and pickles
1pm: Exercise
6pm: Dinner - rice, grilled salmon, dumplings, fried vegetables, miso, omelettes, beans and pickles
9pm: Bedtime

But an American blogger, who spent three weeks at the facility after a drunken altercation with a taxi driver, says strict rules governed every little action.

Detainees were taught "the rituals": how to fold your mattress, how to kneel at a headcount and even how quickly meals were to be eaten, he says.

He shared a 3m by 5m room with two other detainees. They were not allowed to share anything between them in order to prevent bullying, gambling and commerce.

He spent the day reading and writing in a journal and napping, interspersed with "horrid, cold" meals and police interviews, he says.

Although "the people were genuinely being very nice", after two weeks he was frustrated and depressed.

Mr Bethune's wife, Sharyn, told Breakfast earlier this week that he spent most of his time in his room exercising and writing.

"Most of the time he's in a room by himself. He exercises - skipping, press ups and sit ups. He's also spending four hours a day writing his next book so he's trying not to waste his time there."

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society captain Paul Watson said he had received notes from Mr Bethune via his lawyer saying he had known the consequences and was "fine".

One letter read, "Oh, at least I haven't been jumped by some Sumo wrestler in the showers, so everything's fine," Mr Watson said.

If Mr Bethune is convicted at his trial in two weeks, he would likely be transferred to Fuchu Prison, Japan's biggest prison, according to the United States Embassy in Tokyo.

The prison imposes a strict, military-like discipline and there is a prescribed way to walk, talk, eat, sit and sleep, the embassy says.

"As a result of the harsh discipline, the guards are able to exert near complete control over the prison and so guarantee the physical safety of the prisoners."

Because of the strict discipline in Japanese prisons, many only have bamboo walls and prison guards are unarmed, says The New York Times.

One former inmate said he was put in solitary confinement for 10 days because he looked up as he sat down to a meal when his name was called.

"That apparently broke a rule that before eating, each inmate should close his eyes and look downward," the newspaper reported.

Prisoners work eight hours a day in vocational training-related work, for outside contractors or cleaning and cooking in the prison, the US embassy says.

Prisoners get a wage to spend on books, magazines and other items from the prison store, and take home any unspent wages when they are released, it says.

A Typical Day At Fuchu Prison (source: US Embassy)
6.50am: Roll call
7.10am: Breakfast
7.35am: Proceed to workshops
8.00am: Resume work
9.45am: Break
10.00am: Resume work
12.00pm: Lunch
12.40pm: Resume work
14.30pm: Break time
14.45pm: Resume work
16.40pm: End of work
16.45pm: Return from workshops to cells
17.15pm: Dinner
18.05pm: Educational and other activities
19.00pm: Optional activities
21.00pm: Sleep