At the foot of Mount Tento in Hokkaido stands the Abashiri Prison Museum, a place where Japan’s harsh penal past is preserved in timber and iron. The open-air museum—once an actual prison—now houses the original cell blocks, administration offices, and chapel, all of which were relocated and restored to show what life was like behind its cold wooden walls.
Wandering through its dim corridors, visitors often stop short at a startling sight: a life-size mannequin dangling overhead, seemingly caught in the act of wriggling to freedom through the rafters. Clad in nothing but a white loincloth, the figure portrays Yoshie Shiratori, a prisoner no jail could hold. Between 1936 and 1947, the man known as the “Harry Houdini of Japan” pulled off four daring prison escapes, earning a legend’s status among escape artists.
A mannequin replicating Shiratori's escape from Abashiri Prison. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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