Some Elderly People in Japan Are Going to Jail on Purpose

When one 69-year-old Japanese woman was in jail, part of her day consisted of helping clean up after fellow elderly prisoners who had wet the bed.

Japan is aging rapidly, and it’s causing some strange side effects on society. More shoplifting is now committed by the elderly than by teenagers, and older people now make up 20% of all arrests.

Though Japan is often thought of as a country that honors its elders, many people blame the rise in elderly crime on a lack of support for the aged. In fact, some experts believe that some elderly people are going to jail on purpose.

We visited one elderly woman in her Tokyo apartment to ask what life has been like as an ex-con.

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