TOKYO – Palm-sized AI translators have been playing an important role in prisons and detention houses across Japan that house many non-Japanese inmates.
The Japanese Justice Ministry distributed about 200 devices in summer 2025 to improve communication between such inmates and prison officers. It is hoped these devices will help the officers to better understand the inmates’ feelings and lead to better support for their reintegration into society.
“How are you doing? Do you want to see the factory?” said a male prison officer at Fuchu Prison in Fuchu, Tokyo, in late October.
The officer was speaking in Japanese while holding a translation device in his hand. When the officer held the translator near the small window of a one-person room housing a sentenced Chilean man, the device gave the Spanish translation in a female voice.
The Chilean man thought for a moment, and then replied to the device in Spanish. A few seconds later, the device gave the translation of the man’s reply: “Yes. I’m going to have a look around the factory.”
The man does not understand Japanese and was unable to follow prison officers’ instructions when he first arrived at the prison.
