Section 3  Treatment of Unsentenced Inmates, etc.

  Unsentenced inmates are accommodated in detention houses, prisons, or juvenile prisons, separated from sentenced inmates. The treatment of unsentenced inmates 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. Unsentenced inmates are accommodated in single cells if there are any problems to prevent their destruction of evidence, and even in cases other than that, they are accommodated in single cells as much as possible, except that it is considered to be appropriate to accommodate them in shared cells.
  Unlike sentenced inmates, unsentenced inmates are in principle allowed to purchase clothes or bedding at their own expense as well as given a wider range of freedom to buy their own food, drink, and daily requisites than that of sentenced inmates, 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, and can also be restricted in cases where there is a danger of evidence destruction or where it is unavoidable in order to maintain discipline/order in the institution or to perform administrative duties. Books, magazines, and newspapers are allowed as long as it does not pose a risk of destruction of evidence nor violate the rules or order of the institution.
  Unsentenced inmates, etc. can be accommodated in detention facilities in place of penal institutions (substitute accommodation), and unsentenced inmates at the stage of not having been prosecuted are mostly detained in the facilities. The average daily number of persons detained in detention facilities in FY2007 was 11,901 (Source: The Correction Bureau, Ministry of Justice).
  Detainees subject to confinement as the punishment for contempt of court (Kanchi confinement) are subject to some restrictions on visits and written communication, and, like sentenced inmates, they may be allowed to purchase clothes and their own food or drink. In 2007, four persons were subject to Kanchi confinement (Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Correction).
  Inmates sentenced to death are detained in penal institutions until the sentence is executed, separated from other inmates. The treatment of inmates sentenced to death is taken care of, so that they can obtain mental stability. Also, measures, such as advice and lectures considered to contribute to their mental stability, are to be taken, as needed, by requesting the cooperation of private volunteers. As of December 31, 2007, there were 107 inmates awaiting execution of the death penalty (Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Correction).