The first weekend in November, Japan’s largest prison facility, Fuchu Prison, will be holding its annual culture festival! Everyone’s invited to visit the grounds and experience all the fun, food, and friendly atmosphere – things that are not often attributed to prison life. It’s just like the cultural festivals run by high school students, but imagine that the students are all convicts dressed in grey pajamas and locked up in their classrooms. Flyers for the event list educational exhibitions, musical guests, and even a “prison adventure” bus tour behind the heavily guarded walls!
Fuchu Prison, located in the Tokyo region, will be hosting its 38th Fuchu Prison Culture Festival on November 3, from 10 A.M. until 3 in the afternoon. If anyone in the area has ever wondered what it’s like to be imprisoned but isn’t necessarily willing to commit to an extended stay behind bars, this could be your chance!
Emulate the experience of being arrested by climbing inside of a police car! Then, take a trip on the “prison adventure” tour bus, to get a feel for life behind the walls. Taste-test some actual prison food at the cafeteria, which will be serving boiled barley and rice meal sets, or buy a piece of prison-made bread! Then, anyone with kids can take a commemorative photo of their child posing as a heinous criminal at the tiny tyke prison photo-op station. Who says crime can’t be cute!?
If that’s not enough to convince you to come, Fuchu Prison will have special merchandise on sale! There’s also an exhibit in the works, depicting the gates to Sugamo Prison, an incarceration facility in Ikebukuro which has since been replaced by the Sunshine 60 Building, great for business and shopping.
The female pop singer Hitomi Shimatani, will be attending the event as a special guest, and the prison guard band, the Devils, will have a live musical performance during the day!
Forget what you think you know about prisons and visit the Fuchu Prison Culture Festival for a chance to see how fun they can be…at least when you’re able to leave at the end of the day, that is.
Source: Jin115 (Japanese)
Flyer image: garaguda on Twitter
▼ Here are some pictures of the event from previous years.
▼ This day’s prison food selections were fried chicken in chili sauce or beef curry.
We spend Culture Day in prison, food was arguably better than Yoshinoya
We take a tour through Japan’s largest prison
Japanese pop culture festival and concert to be held in Tokyo next month, foreigners get in for free!
School kids in Japan build incredible working tea cup rides for school festivals
Tokyo Koenji Awaodori festival will fully take place for the first time in four years this August
Visiting Japan’s Gyarados Pokémon park in the city with a special connection to Magikarp【Photos】
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
Japanese vending machine serves up unique drinks at four Tokyo train stations
Bear meat noodles?!? Tokyo restaurant adds a new kind of niku soba to its menu【Taste test】
New adults go wild at Seijinshiki Coming-of-Age ceremony in Kitakyushu, Japan 【Photos】
The secret of Starbucks Japan’s Chocolate Chunk Cookie: It’s not made by Starbucks!
Canned cuteness as Hello Kitty and friends kick off Can Chara capsule toy line【Photos】
Which Japanese beef bowl chain’s near-identical demon grater onioroshi ponzu gyudon is the best?
We try an unusual buffet of dishes made from wild game at a roadside stop in Chiba
Say hello to Japan’s new stationmaster cat!【Video】
Starbucks Japan releases new Frappuccino and latte for Valentine’s Day
Our 52-year-old pole dancing reporter shares his tips for achieving your New Year’s exercise goal
Totoro cream puffs and Catbus cookies are finally available in downtown Tokyo
Majority of Japanese women in survey regret marrying their husband, but that’s only half the story
Massive manga collaboration bringing 100 years of Shueisha manga to Uniqlo T-shirts【Photos】
Giant hotel rooms in Osaka reflect the new non-niche face of travel in Japan.
Japanese women showing rebounding interest in giving Valentine’s Day chocolate【Survey】
Japan’s kid-friendly ski program is now selling Pikachu snowboards for a limited time only
Ramen restaurant’s English menu prices are nearly double its Japanese ones, denies discriminating
10 times to avoid traveling in Japan in 2026
Starbucks Japan ready to get Year of the Horse started with adorable drinkware and plushies【Pics】
7-Eleven Japan starts new temporary luggage storage service in over 300 branches
Disillusionment at Tsukiji’s tourist-target prices led us to a great ramen restaurant in Tokyo
Starbucks teams up with 166-year-old Kyoto doll maker for Year of the Horse decorations【Photos】
Japan may add Japanese language proficiency, lifestyle classes to permanent foreign resident requirements
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
Starbucks Japan reveals new sakura drinkware collection, inspired by evening cherry blossoms
Updated cherry blossom forecast shows extra-long sakura season for Japan this year
Kunchi: The major Japanese festival most Japanese people don’t know about
There’s more to do than just look at the flowers at Tokyo’s biggest riverside sakura celebration
The top 20 places to visit in Tokyo, as chosen by travelers
Leave a Reply