Prisoners can write to their lawyers but these letters are read by authorities and subject to censoring. Prison wardens usually monitor meetings with lawyers also.

Detained persons have the possibility to lodge a complaint about their conditions of detention against the prison administration.

Japanese law provides three ways for convicted prisoners to raise concerns about treatment within the prison:

• A procedure called ‘claim for review’ (shinsa no shinsei), in which complaints are directed to the superintendent of the regional correction headquarters about the implementation of prison rules (for example, punishment or refusal of medical treatment) within 30 days of any incident.

• A procedure called ‘report of cases’ (jijitsu o shinkoku) by which you can complain to the superintendent of the regional correction headquarters if you are assaulted or unreasonably restrained within 30 days of any incident.

• The third way to raise concerns is to make a complaint (kujo no shinshutsu) to either the warden of the institution, to an inspector conducting an on-the-spot inspection, or to the Minister of Justice.

If a prisoner is dissatisfied with the outcome of either of these procedures, they can appeal to the Minister of Justice.
The relevant form should be asked to a prison officer to raise concerns in one of these ways. While authorities permit prisoners and detainees to submit complaints without censorship and to request investigation of poor conditions, they are usually responded to with little detail beyond a final determination.

Commuting to the outside world, day leave and furloughs are sometimes allowed in order to encourage reform and rehabilitation and re entry into society.