Teruko Nakazawa once intervened in a knife fight between an ex-offender and their mother -- all in a day's unpaid work for Japan's army of volunteer probation officers.
The 83-year-old, who jokes she is a "punk" as she puffs on a cigarette, devoted decades to supervising and helping rehabilitate convicted criminals on parole.
But she did not take a single yen for her hard work under a long-running but little-known state scheme that some say contributes to the nation's famously low crime rate.
Around 47,000 citizen volunteers known as hogoshi far outnumber the 1,000 salaried probation officers in Japan.
"I never wanted to be thanked or rewarded," said Nakazawa, recalling once going to save a boy "surrounded by 30, 40 bad guys".
"I did what I did because I wanted to," she told AFP. "You can't help but try to put out a fire when you spot one, right?"
But the altruistic program faces an uncertain future, with around 80 percent of hogoshi aged 60 or over.
The recent murder of a hogoshi by a parolee has also rattled the trust in ex-offenders' good nature underlying the system.
For one of Nakazawa's former charges, "she was like a grandma".
"I wouldn't dare do anything bad on her watch," he said, declining to be named because he hides his criminal past. "I was scared of ever feeling guilty that I had betrayed her."
The 34-year-old said Nakazawa "helped me a great deal" -- especially to apologize to his victims.
A 60-year-old hogoshi was fatally stabbed in Otsu, near Kyoto, by a man under his supervision in May.
The incident raised fears that potential hogoshi -- who may already be wary of parolees whose crimes include theft, sex offenses and sometimes murder -- could be scared away.
Hogoshi have historically rejected proposals to be paid a regular wage.
This is because their activity is "a symbol of selflessness" rooted in "love for humanity", legal experts said in an October report.
Only some of their expenses are covered, and they must pay a yearly registration fee -- another factor blamed for the struggle to attract younger volunteers.
Still, Japan "would be a different country without hogoshi", said Carol Lawson, a comparative criminal justice professor at the University of Tokyo, citing the nation's "extraordinary lack of post-war crime".
The system's high "tolerance of risk" is unusual, she said. Hogoshi often invite parolees to their homes to develop a warm, familiar relationship.
Countries such as the Philippines, Thailand and Kenya have made use of Japan's expertise to introduce similar systems.
But "it's hard to even imagine the hogoshi system gaining any traction" in Anglo-American jurisdictions with a more "retributive" mindset, Lawson told AFP.
Nakazawa said her daughter used to worry about her safety and would have urged her to quit had the Otsu homicide occurred before her retirement in 2018.
But if society shuns ex-offenders, "they will only proliferate and commit even more heinous crimes," she said. "We have to root for them so they won't reoffend."
Hogoshi often recruit other hogoshi based on criteria such as reputability, stable income and sufficient free time.
Mieko Kami, a 74-year-old Tokyo flower arrangement teacher, had no experience with criminals before joining the scheme.
When first approached, "I thought, 'there's no way I can do this'", Kami told AFP.
But after three years she changed her mind and was soon sipping tea with a yakuza gangster, helping a young man in a squalid apartment and hurrying at night to a blood-soaked suicide attempt.
"Learning about their upbringing sometimes makes me think it's inevitable they turned out this way," Kami said. "I feel they want to be assured it's OK to exist," she said, describing herself as sometimes being their mother. "So I praise, acknowledge them... I feel fond of them."
Currently on parole in Osaka, Ueko, who only gave his nickname, recalls taking illegal drugs "to be set free of my painful life" trying to fit in as a gay person in Japan.
Initially, his hogoshi's life seemed so impeccable "I doubted he could possibly understand the feelings of us ex-prisoners," the 47-year-old told AFP at drug rehab centre DARC.
But now "he's a very good listener for me".
It is not uncommon for parolees to skip their twice-monthly appointments with hogoshi and fail to bond.
Still, Nakazawa's once-rowdy charges sometimes visit her cafe for tearful reunions, or phone her asking about her health.
"They even jokingly tell me, 'don't mess around', which is exactly what I used to tell them!" Nakazawa laughed. "I spent my whole life caring about other people. But now I'm old and getting weak, they're caring about me. They're my hogoshi now."
© 2025 AFP
11 Comments
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GuruMick
Nice story.
So many tough exteriors on crims hide painful and shameful pasts, often starting with abusive family dynamics.
Being compassionate and actually listening to someone is a good humanistic thing to do.
And the idea the person doesnt want to let the Parole Officer down has traction in my mind.
ian
Just amazing.
TaiwanIsNotChina
You can help the formerly incarcerated by ensuring they face no barriers to housing or employment. Is that true in Japan? I highly doubt it.
Yubaru
83 years old, dedicated woman for sure! She has a huge heart no doubt!
"Retired" at 76? Why does that not seem surprising.
Abe234
I guess, as more and more people are FORCED to work, longer and longer hours, younger people don't have the time, or can't find the time to do this important work. As the work force declines it will get harder to find diamonds like her. But i wonder, and this is just a suggestion, maybe we could advertise these vacancies more. Its the first time ive ever heard of this. Maybe the U.K could try something similar. As soon as you mention anything in the U.K, they all say NOOOOOOO. I want my tax lower. Maybe ask some retired teachers,cops, or others to see if they would like to volunteer? And while we retire, some will want a purpose, maybe not just monetary rewards, but something intangible but still important and valuable to society, the volunteer, and the person themselves. But the demographic time bomb has wider implications than just a worker.
MilesTeg
These dedicated and giving 'volunteers' are being taken advantage of by the gov't and system. Absolutely ridiculous to not pay for such a job and it ss a job not a volunteer activity.
The term 'volunteer' has been turned into a farce. People and children cleaning JR train stations is considered a volunteer activity in Japan. Since when is volunteering supposed to reduce the operational expenses of private corporations? The most common volunteer activity in Japan is garbage cleanup; an activity that lacks any imagination or sustainability. Corporations have no idea about the actual benefits of good corporate volunteering.
Abe234
MilesTegToday 04:26 pm JST
Right and everything has to become payed for, everyone complains that’s it’s some one else’s job. And what’s wrong with taking pride in cleaning your town. Look at some towns in Europe. Dog poop everywhere , rats expanding, towns full of garbage, and people just “dropping litter” everywhere.
The volunteers get all their expenses paid for and they do it because it gives them a sense of purpose, and sense of community, and value, and are you happy to PAY MORE? In your taxes, So you can pay them? And what happens when the government decides to cut the services? And not support people.
I used to think like you about kids cleaning the school but I come to realize kids learn to look after their neighborhood, their school, and to understand if they make a mess someone has to clean it up. Instead of national service, there is nothing wrong with giving something back to the society in a form of social service.
maybe you live here and can see how clean your place is, and how safe it is. Kudos to people like her, they make the world a better place.
GuruMick
I used to be a Parole Officer, did this for about 15 years in NSW Australia.
Not a job for the faint hearted.
I am guessing that with Japans LONG sentences released crims are much older and pretty much burnt out.
Such a group would be more "amenable " to a volunteer.
In Australia, shorter sentences see people with unaddressed problems, mainly drug abuse and similar, released after 2 or 3 years.
Different kettle of fish.
Google "Danny Karam, Lebanese Lion "....he was probably the hardest guy I ever had on Parole....I mean a "hard man "....we actually clicked on many things...it was during the time of the NSW Royal Commission into corrupt police...starting In Kings Cross. Lots of dirty Police, some of whom I also supervised
Danny started a new gang called "Danny,s Boys " but his new, younger gang buddies shot him dead.
Note: I was not supervising Danny during his later escapades.
MilesTeg
A parole officer shouldn't be a volunteer activity. It's a professional job that people need to be paid for as your life can be at risk. The article clearly stated that a 60yrs old volunteer was stabbed to death last May.
Our taxes are supposed to be used to keep the streets clean. If the streets are dirty it's because the gov't chooses not to direct tax money to clean them more but rather spend on areas that they think are more important such as uselessly sending facemasks that nobody asked for or wanted at the end of covid. The resources are there. The streets could be cleaner if the gov't wanted them to be. I don't give a crap about Europe (pun intended) and we're talking about Japan.
I never said anything about students cleaning their own schools. I mentioned that students and adults are cleaning privately owned train stations owned by corporations who have the money to clean them themselves. If you think that's appropriate use of volunteers, you have no idea.
Well-thought out, cause related volunteering that benefits both sides can make a huge difference. It's only possible in Japan right now because the crime rate is low and most crimes nonviolent. Many predict changes in this area and when it does happen, these volunteer parole officers will be unsustainable and the gov't will need to spend money an area that needed to be paid for in the first place.
I started my post by saying that these volunteers are dedicated and giving and that the fault lies with the gov't. Yet you somehow turn that around and make unfounded assumptions that I don't acknowledge them.
And grow up and stop using bold. It doesn't make your point anymore credible.
quercetum
Nice article JT. Probation officers can have a profound impact when they go beyond their official duties to truly support and inspire their clients.
One officer I know because of a friend at the police academy in Tama (ASIJ TUFS) didn’t just enforce the rules; the person saw potential and helped the juvenile unlock his potential. Her dedication and compassion changed the trajectory of his life, proving that second chances can lead to incredible transformations.
The guy was in his early 20s and had grown up in a neighborhood in Western Tokyo (Hachioji) where opportunities were scarce but chances to hang out with the wrong crowd abundant. She sensed that he had potential and a desire to turn his life around.
They are defensive and skeptical in the beginning and don’t trust the system and believe no one cares about their future. She didn’t push the guy too hard initially but over time, she learned that he had a passion for cooking— had worked in a few kitchens as a teenager and loved creating meals.
She encouraged him to pursue this interest and helped him enroll in a culinary arts program at a vocational school. She connected him with a mentor in the food industry and followed up by helping him find an arubaito at a restaurant.
He became more focused, motivated and started showing up to their meetings with stories about new recipes he had learned and the positive feedback he was getting from his chef mentors. A year later, he graduated from the culinary program with honors and landed a full-time job at a well-known restaurant in Kagurazaka.
Abe234
MilesTegJan. 26 10:01 pm JST
A parole officer shouldn't be a volunteer activity. It's a professional job that people need to be paid for as your life can be at risk. The article clearly stated that a 60yrs old volunteer was stabbed to death last May.
I agree to a point. A parole officer should be paid. As a professional. But some things can be delegated down to someone who doesnt need to have full qualifications. Same as some medical staff don't need to be fully qualified doctors, or fully qualified nurses. or even untrained nurses.Some can be people who volunteer. I have looked after a murderers, abusers, etc but if you met them in the street, you'd think they were just normal people. They've done their 20 odd years, and just want to move on in life. Some volunteers, just offer and ear, some encouragement, some do arts. But these volunteers are there to support the parole officers.I don't think the government or even the parole service would just give some ex hardend criminal to a volunteer. There is some professional sense.Not common sense! Some ex cons don't need hard core supervision. We have volunteeers in the U.K, they are not instead of, but adjunct to.