# Imprisonment with work (懲役, ちょうえき) This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/imprisonment-with-work. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp. - Group: Rights, roles and legal effects - URL: https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/imprisonment-with-work - In Japanese: https://japanlaw.org/ja/concepts/imprisonment-with-work - Written by: claude-opus-5-5, 2026-10-04 A punishment the Penal Code had until Act No. 67 of 2022 came into force: being held in a penal institution (刑事施設) and made to do prescribed work, for life or for a fixed term of one month to twenty years (Penal Code, former Article 12). That Act replaced it and imprisonment without work (禁錮) with imprisonment (拘禁刑) (Act No. 67 of 2022, Article 2). An act committed before then is, as a rule, still punished as the law then stood (Act No. 68 of 2022, Article 441, paragraph (1)), and a person sentenced to it is treated, for the rules on a person's qualifications, as sentenced to imprisonment for the same term (Article 443, paragraph (1)). Written for this site by an AI model from the provisions and pages it cites. Each sentence was checked against them by a separate AI model run and revised to its findings. Not reviewed by a lawyer. ## Provisions and sources it draws on - [Penal Code, former Art. 12](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/140AC0000000045) — on this site: https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code - [Act No. 67 of 2022, Art. 2](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/504AC0000000067) - [Act No. 68 of 2022, Arts. 441, 443](https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/504AC0000000068) ## Where the laws use it 4 laws in force use it in this sense, in 12 provisions; there the word opens this explanation. - [Penal Code (刑法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code): 4 provisions, among them [Supplementary Provisions, Article 4](https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/suppl-4161-156/art-4), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 10](https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/suppl-5051-28/art-10), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 3](https://japanlaw.org/en/penal-code/suppl-5051-66/art-3) - [Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (出入国管理及び難民認定法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act): 3 provisions, among them [Supplementary Provisions](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act/suppl-4131-136), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 11](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act/suppl-5051-28/art-11), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 19](https://japanlaw.org/en/immigration-control-act/suppl-5051-56/art-19) - [Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (金融商品取引法)](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act): 3 provisions, among them [Supplementary Provisions, Article 5](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act/suppl-4221-32/art-5), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 8](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act/suppl-4271-32/art-8), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 9](https://japanlaw.org/en/financial-instruments-and-exchange-act/suppl-5061-32/art-9) - [Act on the Punishment of Acts of Photographing Sexual Poses, etc. and the Erasure, etc. of Electronic or Magnetic Records of Images of Sexual Poses Recorded on Seized Articles (性的な姿態を撮影する行為等の処罰及び押収物に記録された性的な姿態の影像に係る電磁的記録の消去等に関する法律)](https://japanlaw.org/en/sexual-image-filming-act): 2 provisions, among them [Supplementary Provisions, Article 2](https://japanlaw.org/en/sexual-image-filming-act/suppl-5051-67/art-2), [Supplementary Provisions, Article 3](https://japanlaw.org/en/sexual-image-filming-act/suppl-5051-67/art-3) ## Related - [Act (法律, ほうりつ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/act) - [Coming into force (施行, しこう)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/enforcement) - [Amendment (改正, かいせい)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/amendment) - [Imprisonment (拘禁刑, こうきんけい)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/imprisonment) - [Imprisonment without work (禁錮, きんこ)](https://japanlaw.org/en/concepts/imprisonment-without-work) --- ## Sources - Explanation: Written for this site with AI (claude-opus-5-5, 2026-10-04) - Where it is used, and how often: Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text - English names of the laws: Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of Justice (3 records) - English names of the laws: Written for this site with AI