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an exhibit in the works, depicting the gates to Sugamo Prison, an incarceration facility in Ikebukuro which has since been replaced by the Sunshine 60 Building, great for business and shopping.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
Krispy Kreme releases new limited-edition fox doughnuts at only four stores in Japan
Two new Sailor Moon art manhole covers are coming to Usagi’s real-world Tokyo neighborhood
Japan’s izakaya pubs closing at record pace, failing to attract foreign tourists
Gundam teams up with 300-year-old daruma maker for wood-carved anime mecha figures[Photos]
KFC Japan’s “The American Burgers” include a pile of guilt
Japanese government to allow desecration of flags on kids’ meals
Tokyo’s new extra-expensive ramen restaurant is dividing opinions, so we tried a bowl
Japanese temple burns to the ground, fire burning inside for 1,200 years unharmed
Pizza Hut Japan’s drinkable curry pizza is here – Is it all we dreamed it would be?[Taste test]
Used chopsticks upgraded from “waste” to “valuable material” by Kawasaki City thanks to ChopValue
Kanji ice cream becomes a sell-out hit in Japan
Japan has a new cute and clever sunblock for cat lovers
This Tokyo Station sweets sensation sells out daily, but we finally got our hands on it
Japan’s instant ramen snack theme park features an athletic course even adults can enjoy
Krispy Kreme Japan is bringing two special donuts to the most-forgotten big city in the country
Tokyo’s life-size Gundam anime mecha statue will be removed this summer
The average age of Japan’s hikikomori shut-ins is getting older, survey shows
Japan enters Golden Week vacation period, survey shows one in three plan to ride it out at home
Ichiraku Ramen-inspired ramen sets from Naruto anime pay homage to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura
Japan’s new Pokémon jackets give you the look and powers of the Kanto starter trio
Japan now has gyoza doughnuts, and they taste like no other doughnut we’ve tried before
New Kyoto Converse sneakers celebrate Japan with traditional kimono fabrics for your feet
Studio Ghibli releases new anime keychains that are like miniature figurines
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
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
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
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