was a Japanese murderer, who committed a murder in 1933. He is best known for having escaped from prison

Prison escape

A prison escape or prison break is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture them and return them to their original detainers...

 four times over three years. He was eventually sentenced to life and 23 years imprisonment for a murder, escaping and manslaughter

Manslaughter

Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...

. However, in fact he had been in prison for 26 years until he was paroled in 1961.

Shiratori was born on Aomori Prefecture

Aomori Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region. The capital is the city of Aomori.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Aomori prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....

 and had a daughter. Although he committed a murder with a peer in 1933, there was no evidence that he was a career criminal. However, prosecutors sought his death sentence and he escaped from the Aomori prison in 1936. He was soon arrested again and was sentenced to life imprisonment

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...

. He escaped from the Akita prison in 1942. He was soon arrested again, and was sentenced to three years in prison. He rusted his handcuff and an inspection hole with miso

Miso

is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus , the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso...

 soup and escaped from Abashiri prison in 1944. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he injured a man and the man later died. He was arrested again in 1946.

Sapporo District Court sentenced him to death

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...

 and this made him angry. He dug a tunnel and escaped from Sapporo prison in 1947. In 1948, a policeman gave him a cigarette, and then Shiratori admitted that he was an escaped convict. High court revoked his death sentence and sentenced him to 20-years in prison, denying his intention of killing. He stayed in jail after that, and was parole

Parole

Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...

d in 1961. He went to Aomori Prefecture in 1973, and he saw his daughter, but he didn't speak to her. He died of heart attack in 1979. His ashes were taken by a woman who was cared by him.

Shiratori became an anti-hero

Anti-hero

In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...

 in Japan. Akira Yoshimura

Akira Yoshimura

was a prize winning Japanese writer.He was the president of the Japanese writers' union and a PEN member. He published over 20 novels, of which On Parole and Shipwrecks are internationally known and have been translated into several languages...

 published a novel Hagoku based on him. There is his memorial in the Abashiri prison museum. His family name Shiratori means swan

Swan

Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...

in Japanese.

External links

• Hagoku from Charm of Hokkaido Yoshie Shiratori from MONSTERS