Japan’s 23-day pre-indictment detention: what actually happens each day

If you have been searching for what happens after an arrest in Japan, you have probably already met the number 23. It is the maximum number of days a suspect can be held before the prosecutor decides whether to bring charges. What that number does not tell you is that the days are not interchangeable. Some of them settle everything; others pass with almost nothing happening.

This article breaks the period down day by day, explains two features that surprise almost every foreign client, namely detention in a police cell and the absence of bail before charges, and sets out what the outcome means for a residence status in Japan.

The 23 days are 48 hours, 24 hours, 10 days and 10 more days

The figure of 23 days is a sum of four separate periods. The police must transfer the case and the person to a prosecutor within 48 hours of the arrest. The prosecutor then has 24 hours from receiving the suspect to decide whether to ask a judge for a detention order. If the judge grants it, detention runs for 10 days as a rule, and if it is extended, for up to 10 more.

The practical meaning is that the first three days decide whether detention becomes long, and the following twenty days decide what the disposition will be. What can be done in the first three days changes the character of everything that follows.

Days one to three: the transfer and the request for detention

What is decided in this window is release or the doorstep of detention. The police question the suspect and decide whether to send the case forward. The prosecutor then interviews the suspect personally and decides whether to request detention from a judge.

Defence counsel can use this window to tell the prosecutor that the suspect has a fixed address, an employer or school that continues, and a person willing to act as a guarantor, and to ask that no detention be requested. Under article 39, paragraph 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, defence counsel and a lawyer who is about to become defence counsel may meet the suspect without an official present. That meeting is the only reliable source of information for a family abroad. Article 198, paragraph 2 requires that the right to remain silent be explained before questioning, so the decision whether to speak has to be made early rather than drifted into.

Days three to four: the detention hearing before a judge

On this day a judge meets the suspect in person and decides whether the statutory grounds for detention are met. The judge looks at whether there is probable cause to suspect the offence, whether the suspect has no fixed residence, whether there is reason to suspect destruction of evidence, and whether there is reason to suspect flight.

In cases involving foreign nationals, the risk of flight is often inferred from nationality itself, on the assumption that a person can simply leave the country. The counterweight is concrete: a residence card, a lease, an employment certificate, enrolment records, family living in Japan. Documents that show a life anchored in Japan carry more weight than assurances. Even after detention is ordered, article 82 and the following articles allow a request for disclosure of the grounds for detention, which obliges the judge to state those grounds in open court.

Why there is no bail before indictment

Bail in Japan is available only after charges have been filed. During the pre-indictment period there is simply no application to make, and offering money to secure release is not an option the system recognises at that stage.

What remains are three routes: persuading the prosecutor not to request detention, challenging the detention order once it is made, and seeking revocation when the grounds no longer hold, for instance after evidence has been secured or a settlement with the complainant has been reached. Each of these is time sensitive, which is why waiting for court-appointed counsel to be assigned after detention often costs the most valuable days.

Detention in a police cell rather than a detention house

Most people held before indictment stay in a cell inside a police station rather than in a detention house. The practice is commonly referred to as daiyō kangoku, the substitute prison. Interrogation takes place in the same building, and daily life is easily shaped around the needs of the investigation.

This is why the record of questioning matters so much. Article 301-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires audio and video recording of interrogations in certain categories of cases, which later allows the circumstances of questioning to be checked. Article 198, paragraph 4 allows the suspect to ask for additions, deletions or changes to a written statement. Statements are drafted in Japanese and read back through an interpreter, so a suspect who is not satisfied with the rendering should raise it before signing rather than after.

Language, interpreters and the rights that attach to them

Language is not a side issue in this system; it goes to the fairness of the whole process. Article 74 of the Court Act provides that Japanese is used in court, and articles 175 and 178 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provide the basis for interpretation and translation at trial. During the investigation, the interpreter is arranged by the investigating authority, while an interpreter for meetings with defence counsel must be arranged by the defence.

Article 14, paragraph 3 (a) and (f) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the charge in a language one understands and the right to free assistance of an interpreter. According to the Supreme Court of Japan publication on court interpreting, January 2025 edition, 3,851 defendants whose cases required an interpreter reached a final disposition in 2023. Article 171 of the Penal Code makes false interpretation a criminal offence, which underlines that accuracy of interpretation is treated as a matter of law and not of courtesy.

How the criminal outcome rebounds on residence status

The decisive point for anyone living in Japan is that the type of disposition determines which immigration provision applies. Article 24, item 4 (ri) of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act lists as a ground for deportation a person sentenced to imprisonment (kōkinkei) for life or for more than one year, but the proviso excludes a sentence that is fully suspended.

Drug offences are governed separately. Article 24, item 4 (chi) applies to a person convicted under laws on narcotics, cannabis, opium or stimulants, and it applies whether the sentence is a fine, a suspended sentence, or even a remission of punishment, regardless of which appendix the residence status falls under. Article 5, paragraph 1, item 5 imposes denial of landing with no time limit for such cases, so re-entry depends on special permission to land under article 12, paragraph 1. A person in that category also cannot use the departure order procedure under article 24-3. If deportation proceedings do begin, special permission to stay under article 50 remains available, and paragraph 5 of that article lists the factors to be considered, including the reasons for wishing to remain, family relationships, conduct, the circumstances of coming to Japan and the length of residence. Because a suspended sentence is not a safe harbour in every category, obtaining a decision not to prosecute is the most direct protection for a residence status.

Common misunderstandings

The first is that the embassy will appoint a lawyer. Under article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, consular notification and consular visits are available when the detained person asks for them, but conducting a defence is not a consular function. The second is that admitting everything shortens the process; what is said becomes a written statement that is later read by immigration officers in violation proceedings. The third is that silence will be held against you. The right to remain silent is a right that must be explained under article 198, paragraph 2, and exercising it is not designed to operate as a penalty.

How our office works

At our office, attorney Daisuke Matsumura visits clients in detention himself and keeps track of how questioning is being conducted rather than relying on second-hand reports. For Chinese, we have a dedicated interpreter for foreign criminal cases on staff; for other languages, including English, we arrange interpreters according to the needs of the individual case.

Because even a suspended sentence can leave consequences for a residence status, we treat a decision not to prosecute as the first objective. The criminal case and the immigration procedure are planned together, since statements taken during the criminal stage are later used in immigration violation inquiries and oral hearings, and we are prepared to contest whether a ground for deportation applies at all, including questions of intent and negligence. The first consultation is free of charge, and we can be reached on WeChat at matsumura1119.

Closing note

The structure of the system cannot be changed by a family in the middle of a crisis, but the tools inside it can be used. Visits by counsel, checking whether the interrogation is recorded, requesting disclosure of the grounds for detention, and building a case for non-prosecution all belong to the pre-indictment period, and they lose value once it ends. This article is a general explanation; for an individual case, please consult a lawyer directly.

Author

Daisuke Matsumura, Attorney at Law
Member of the Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association (registration number: 59077, admitted 2019)
Funado International Law Office (Fuse Building Main Wing 3F, Takada 3-4-10, Toshima-ku, Tokyo)
His practice focuses on criminal defence for foreign nationals and immigration procedures, mainly for clients of Chinese nationality. His results include an acquittal in a case under the Stimulants Control Act (possession for the purpose of profit), a decision not to prosecute in a case of organised fraud, and special permission to stay in cases regarded as difficult.

Funado International Law Office
Website: https://matsumura-lawoffice.jp/
WeChat ID: matsumura1119

Japanese version of this article: https://matsumura-lawoffice.jp/blog/detail/2026099010/