Prisoners in Japan serving "indefinite" sentences are locked up longer these days before they get paroled compared with 20 years ago, according to information the government released to the Diet on Tuesday.
The Justice Ministry, in a study compiled at the request of House of Representative member Nobuto Hosaka of the Social Democratic Party, said the average prison time for paroled inmates last year -- 21 years and five months -- was five to six years longer than in the late 1970s.
Currently, the Diet is conducting debate on a review of the Penal Code, including a proposal to introduce life imprisonment as a substitute for capital punishment.