Inmates awaiting trial are accommodated in detention houses or in the detention sections of prisons and juvenile prisons.The treatment of inmates awaiting trial is designed to prevent their escape and destruction of evidence,while taking care to respect their defense rights as suspects or persons accused and to ensure their proper custodial life.Inmates awaiting trial are,in principle,accommodated in single cells,and even when housed in shared cells,consideration is given to ensure that suspects connected to the same case are not housed together and have no opportunity to contact each other outside their cells.
  Unlike convicted inmates,inmates awaiting trial are in principle allowed to purchase clothes or bedding at their own expense as well as given a wide range of freedom to buy their own food,drink,and daily requisites,provided that they do not violate the rules or hygiene in the institution.Visits to them are observed by guards except for visits by defense counsels,and the contents of written communication are subject to censorship.These can be restricted under the Code of Criminal Procedure,when they contravene the purpose of detention,and when it is administratively unavoidable for maintaining the rules and order of the institution.Books,magazines,and newspapers are allowed as long as it does not contravene the purpose of detention nor violate the rules or order of the institution.
  Inmates awaiting trial are sometimes detained in police cells(custodial facility in a police station used in lieu of a detention house under Clause3,Article1of the Prison Law).The average daily number of inmates in police cells in FY2003was13,539(Source:Data by Correction Bureau,Ministry of Justice).
  The treatment of fine defaulters in workhouse is generally in line with that of inmates sentenced to imprisonment with labor.In2003,new6,236inmates were admitted to workhouses,2,150of which were admitted to workhouses after being detained in penal institutions(Source:Annual Report of Statistics on Correction).
  The treatment of detainees subject to confinement as the punishment for contempt of court(Kanchi confinement)is in line with that of inmates awaiting trial,except that there are some restrictions on visits,written communication,and the freedom to purchase clothes and that they are not allowed to buy their own food or drink.In2003,five persons were subject to Kanchi confinement(Source:Annual Report of Statistics on Correction).
  Inmates sentenced to death are accommodated in detention houses until the sentence is executed.Their treatment is generally in line with that of inmates awaiting trial.Religious services by prison chaplains or guidance and advice by volunteer visitors are available at their requests.As of December31,2003,there were56inmates awaiting execution of death penalty(Source:Annual Report of Statistics on Correction).