Page 19 - GM EBOOK
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tion was to build up Character. The subtler faculties Tattoos
of prudence, intelligence, and dialectics were less The “go-to” form of punishment for non-violent C
important. Intellectual superiority was esteemed, but crimes was a tattoo right in the center of the forehead h a
a samurai was essentially a man of action. called Irezumi kei “tattoo penalty”. It was handed p t
Crime and Punishment down to perpetrators of relatively minor crimes like e r
theft and burglary. Oftentimes this penalty is accom-
In medieval Japan, there was not even a pretense of panied by expulsion from the area of the unlawful
equal justice for all. Civil rights didn’t exist. There act. It served as a deterrent both due to the pain of
was no such thing as lawyers, jury trials, or the con- getting your face tattooed and being publicly dis-
cept of “innocent until proven guilty.” A magistrate played as a criminal for the rest of your life as well as
was judge and jury. If you were arrested for a crime, a purpose for record keeping. In most regions, if a
you would almost certainly be convicted. Incarcera- tattooed person repeat-offends then the penalty is
tion in jail was usually brief, a mere waiting period death.
before a trial soon followed by punishment. The Ja- Confiscation of Property
pan shogunate used various punishments against
criminals. These punishments can be categorized in A penalty that targeted merchants was Kessho. This
five degrees of severity, and have different punish- penalty allowed for the confiscation of property or
ments within each category. even a business. As a punishment, it differs from
a fine in that it is not primarily meant to match the
• Corporal punishment
crime but rather reattributes the criminal's ill-gotten
• Confiscation of property spoils to the community. This penalty may even be
• Penal labor used to rob individuals of their socio-economic sta-
• Incarceration and Exile tus, in the extreme case reducing them to utter pov-
• Death penalty erty. If one is condemned to death, this penalty may
even deny inheritance to legal heirs. Often times lim-
Corporal Punishment
ited confiscation is in function of the committed
Corporal punishment is a punishment of, relating crime, with the rationale being that the offender must
to, or affecting the body through physical penance. be denied the fruits of their fault, while the crime it-
The Shogunate, during this era, used several forms of self is rather punished in another fashion, such
corporal punishment sentences for citizens of lower as corporal punishment or even a concurring fine.
classes.
An auctioning of confiscated items via authority
Handcuffing or asset are forfeited and kept. Theoretically, it is
Is used allowed the government to punish a criminal possible for owners to buy back confiscated items.
while he/she is under house arrest. Depending on the Penal Labor
severity of the crime, the sentence might last 30, 50, For crimes requiring moderate punishment, convicts
or 100 days.
could be sent to work at labor camps. More serious
Flagellation acts could result in being sent to work in
was a common penalty for crimes such as theft and the gold mines. Female convicts are often sentenced
fighting. A convicted criminal could be sentenced to to serve terms working as slaves or prostitutes in
a maximum of 100 lashes. Samurai and priests are walled Red Light Districts of Yoshiwara, Tokyo.
exempt from flogging, as the penalty applies only to
commoners. The convict was stripped of all outer
clothing and struck about the buttocks and back. Both
men and women could be sentenced to a flogging,
women are imprisoned rather than flogged.
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