(1)Correction of adults
  The number of new foreign inmates in1999stood at1,517,up by248from the previous year. "Foreigners who need treatment programs different from those for Japanese inmates"are called Class F inmates. (For the purpose of this subsection, new inmates are referred to as"new Class F inmates". )Of the new foreign inmates, Fig. IV-13 shows trends in the number of new Class F inmates.

Fig. IV-13 Trends in Number of New Class F Inmates(1990-1999)

  By offense, larceny was most frequently committed by new Class F inmates in1999with271persons convicted(28.1%), followed by Immigrant Control Law violations with191persons(19.8%), Stimulant Drug Control Law violations with143persons(14.8%), robbery with122persons(12.6%), homicide with26persons(2.7%)and Narcotics Control Law violations with25persons(2.6%)(source:Annual Report of Statistics on Correction).
  Class F inmates are substantially different from Japanese inmates, not only in language but also in manners, customs and religious practices. Thus, different treatment programs are provided in the Fuchu, Yokohama, Yokosuka, Kurobane, Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Sapporo Prisons for foreign male inmates, and in Tochigi and Wakayama Prisons for female inmates. In particular, an International Affairs Office was established in Fuchu Prison in1995and in Osaka Prison in1997to address the rapid increase in Class F inmates in recent years. The Office works to facilitate interviews with inmates in foreign languages, as well as interpretation and translation activities in sending and receiving correspondence.
  1,677persons(1,574men and103women)were treated as Class F inmates as of December31,1999.
(2)Rehabilitation
  540foreign probationers(excluding permanent residents and others of Korean and Chinese nationality)were newly received in1999,down2.0%from the previous year. By type of probationary supervision, parolees from prisons represented a majority of the new foreign probationers(328persons), followed by juvenile probationers(152), parolees from juvenile training schools(39)and adult probationers(21)(source:Annual Report of Statistics on Rehabilitation).
  Table IV-5 shows the number of foreign probationers, excluding permanent residents and special permanent residents, as of December31each year from1997to1999,by region of origin and type of probationary supervision. The total number of foreign probationers stood at834in1999,up10.2%from the previous year(757). A majority of foreign probationers came from Asia, accounting for66.3%of the total.
  The treatment of foreign probationers entails various problems:the difficulty for many of them to communicate in Japanese, difficulty in finding interpreters, variations in customs and perception of norms due to differences in culture and systems in the society of origin, difficulty in finding jobs, and difficulty in obtaining assistance in welfare and medical care. Measures to address these problems include the preparation of guidebooks on probationary supervision(including translations), the recruitment of interpreters in cooperation with the private sector, and the training of probation officers in foreign languages.

Table IV-5 Number of Foreigners under Probationary Supervision, by Region  of Origin(as of Dec.31,1997-1999)