Daiyo_kangoku
Daiyō kangoku
Detention cells in Japan
Daiyō kangoku (代用監獄) is a Japanese legal term meaning "substitute prison". Daiyō kangoku are detention cells found in police stations which are used as legal substitutes for detention centers, or prisons. The practical difference lies in the supervision of daiyō kangoku by the police forces responsible for investigations, whereas detention centers are supervised by a professional corps of prison guards who are not involved in the investigative processes.
Daiyō kangoku came about to solve a shortage of prison cells in Japan in 1908. The practice has continued and has significant political support.[1] It has been controversial, however, because of its role in eliciting confessions from criminal suspects, especially foreigners who do not have access to translators or lawyers.