Even when you're in jail. Those visiting Abashiri might consider a long train ride via the Semmo Line, through the great wilderness of Hokkaido. According to records, more than 200 prisoners died due to various reasons, including malnutrition; being violently attacked by brown bears, wolves, and other wild animals; and engineering accidents. He only had to lift the planks from the floor. At the Sapporo prison, he was incarcerated in a specially made cell that was designed to prevent him from escaping through the air vent in the ceiling. The most fun I had was seeing Susumu Terajima, a Kitano regular, show up briefly. At the Sapporo prison, he was placed in a specially designed cell with high ceilings and windows smaller than his head. Using a metal wire that had been wrapped around a bucket used for bathing, he picked his cell lock and escaped through a cracked skylight. Shiratori is famous for having escaped from prison four different times, making him an anti-hero in Japanese culture. He decided to make his move in June 1936. The man no prison could hold. With Sari Awano, Duncan, Isao Hashizume, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi. There was no going back. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He could have gone with any of them, though. Shiratori died in Tokyo at the age of 72, ending his legendary life. Yoshie trained the guard to keep their heads up , and he escaped by using a bowl to dig his way free . He then got a life inprisonment and got sent to Akita Prison ( Important to the story : Most of the guard at Akita prison were beating him except for one who every now and again come and check he was doing well and wasnt going insane ) . Shiratori turned out to be a skilled climber with the uncanny ability to scale like a lizard. The court denied his request , instead , they sent him to Abashiri Prison . The real-life story about Yoshie Shiratori sounds more interesting. He is best known for having escaped from prison four times. Kobayashi, stunned, took him in and fed him while also listening to what he had to say. Report this film. We have compiled the top 10 prison escapes of all time, these are all real stories with fascinating outcomes. Now each window was smaller than his body , but what the guards didnt know , is that Yoshie could dislocate his joints at his own will ,res making him a honory member of the Xmen . There was no way he could physically get in because the openings were smaller than his body. Art & Culture Then, he tried his hand as a fisherman. However, after studying the guards' routine for months, he escaped by picking his cell lock with the metal wire that was wrapped around the bucket provided for bathing and escaped through a cracked skylight. Remarkably, he dislocated his shoulders tosqueeze out of the tiny food slot. Yoshie requested that he be imprisoned in Tokyo, which the court granted. Probably should have hired him to help design the prisons. Thetwo remaining children were subsequently brought up in a tofu store by his aunt. However, in fact he had been in prison for 26 years until he was paroled in 1961. He then stole some tomatoes, which led to an altercation with a farmer, who he ended up killing. That incredible man to be introduced now is none other than Yoshie Shiratori, Except for whom no other man in history has shown such insolence for confinement. Perhaps he was exhausted from all the running and hiding, he decided to go to the home of a police officer, the only person who had shown any benevolence towards him from his previous prison in Aomori. It had already been 1943, and he couldnt believe it. He chose a stormy night so that the guards wouldnt hear the footsteps on the roof. It is doubtful that he could slip out at night. They were gone without a trace. Yet one morning, guards opened the cell door to find Shiratori gone. As the abuse continued, he studied their movements. Once again, Yoshies escape was publicized, and made the headlines of several newspapers in the Hokkaido Shimbun. Mobilesite. The relationship between a prison warden (Takeshi Kitano) and a prisoner (Takayuki Yamada) who got famous for escaping several times during war timesIt's a bit strange watching Takeshi Kitano playing it completely straight, having to act in a sappy TV movie. New prisons had to be built, and Hokkaido was chosen as the location. Shiratori turned out to have a different ability. Shiratori was stunned. Although Sakuma is a dangerous person who had also broken out of jail in Aomori, he submits to Urata who is the only person who had treated him kindly in the past. In the first police inquiry, Yoshie was found imputable of both the murder and the thievery. Japanese prisons had a reputation for treating prisoners harshly. In comparison, there was almost no sunlight in the rooms, which were only illuminated by a locked skylight overhead that leaked and no light during the day from all other sources. Now he was starving. And that was the end of it; hed gotten away from prison yet again. The real-life story about Yoshie Shiratori sounds more interesting. Shiratori saw his chance to escape during the wartime blackout on August 26, 1944. Who could have expected anything else? Genevieve Carlton earned a Ph.D in history from Northwestern University with a focus on early modern Europe and the history of science and medicine before becoming a history professor at the University of Louisville. Japan has worked to reform the prison system since the Meiji Era, which meant escapes have become rarer, and by the mid-1970s, the annual number of escapees have dwindled to just a single digit. Prisoners who couldn't endure the suffering and tried to escape were beheaded by guards on the spot. Since the authorities were already concerned about him escaping, it turns out he did. While awaiting execution in 1947, Yoshie made his final bid for freedom by unlocking the bolts that held together with the cells wooden floorboards. How did Shiratori manage to escape Abashiri Prison? The Sapporo High Court, though, revoked his death sentence, ruling the killing of the farmer as self-defense. Falsely accused of robbery and murder, Shiratori was imprisoned at Aomori prison in 1936. Minutes later, Kobayashi called the police while Shiratori was in the toilet. This hospitality made Shiratori shed tears. In Aomori prison, life was intolerable, thus, Yoshie Shiratori had to go through an immense hardship. After his third escape, Yoshie Shiratori went into hiding for over a year. 1915, Aomori Japan. I mean, I remember reading a children's book in around 2nd grade about like 6 brothers who each had some extraordinary ability, and they use these abilities ro avoid being executed for manslaughter. Posters are sourced from TMDb and Posteritati, and appear for you and visitors to your profile and content, depending on settings. This plan entailed Shiratori willingly handing himself over to the Justice Department, where he could then make a personal case for how corrupt and barbaric the Japanese prison system was and why reform was needed. Whilst sitting on a bench , an officer sat down next to him and struck up a conversation . In total he was sentenced to life plus 23 years for his crimes but only served 26 years and was paroled in 1961. The most important takeaway is a scene in which a prison guard, gloveless, licks his finger and then performs a cavity search. Only a blacksmith could remove them. Prisoners had to wear handcuffs at all times, even when sleeping. When the guards delivered meals however, he would always drip miso soup on the handcuffs and food slot, both of which eventually became corroded, allowing Shiratori to break them. If you plan on visiting this museum in person, this very comprehensive article will help you find other things to see and experience in Hokkaido! The High Court of Sapporo decided to revoke the previous decision of the death penalty. Theyd learned about Shiratoris prior escape attempt and were eager to teach him lessons. In his mind, it was time to go; but Aomori Prison wasn't the easiest to escape. But he did kill people. I don't get why so much time is dedicated to the prison warden (other than Kitano being such a big name down there). Shiratori lacked the strength and stamina to mount an escape at the time, let alone given the restraints he was subjected to. He was paroled just a decade later, in 1961. For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Yoshie Shiratori. Dislocate joints and escape through small holE. A Look Into Japan's Most Famous and Inescapable Prison: Hokkaido's Abashiri Prison Museum. Shiratori was an expert at breaking free from handcuffs. 15:39, 8 JUL 2022. So compelling was the story of Japanese anti-hero Shiratori that a book and TV drama were dedicated to its telling. Between 1936 and 1947, the man known as the Harry Houdini of Japan escaped from four different cells. Taking up the challenge, Shiratori regularly got out of his handcuffs and scaled the smooth copper wall to pry away at the rotting wooden framing of the skylight. On April3, 1933, he waspart of a group of thieves that robbed a merchandise dealers storehouse in Higashitsugaru. The northernmost prison in Japan, it is located near the Abashiri River and east of Mount Tento.It holds inmates with sentences of less than ten years. However, in fact he had been in . However, three months after escaping from jail, Sakuma shows up at Uratas house. [5][6][7][4] By now, he had made headlines on several newspapers. After being paroled in 1961, he did a variety of jobs and was reunited with his daughter. Initially, he worked in a tofu shop and later as a fisherman to catch crabs in Russia. Six years later, Shiratori found himself moved to Akita Prison, which was being used during the Second World War as a wartime detention facility. Walking down the corridors of Abashiri Prison Museum in Hokkaido, a life-size mannequin suddenly grabs your attention overhead. In total he was sentenced to life plus 23 years for his crimes but only served 26 years and was paroled in 1961. This got him the death penalty . It was the fugitive Yoshie Shiratori, unkempt and disheveled, who needed a favor, much to his surprise. Yoshie Shiratori was the first and only prisoner to ever escape Abashiri Prison. Caught stealing supplies from a hospital, he was re-arrested just three days after the jailbreak.
