Urairat Soimee's journey began with an invitation from a wealthy neighbor -- her mother's childhood friend -- in her small Thai village to come and work at a restaurant she claimed she owned in Japan. It ended with her in a Japanese prison, serving a sentence for murder.

Like many poor and uneducated women from Thailand, Urairat came to Japan, moving to Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, nearly seven years ago in the hope of earning enough to provide for her children and disabled husband.

Instead, she was saddled with a large debt and told that she would have to prostitute herself -- or face serious injury, even death -- if she did not comply.