ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 documents convict labour during the colonization of Hokkaido between 1881 and 1886. The chapter explains the circumstances of the establishment of Kabato, Sorachi and Kushiro Prisons and gives a detailed account of inmates’ farming and industrial activities. In this way, data presented in this chapter evidence the socio-political role prisons initially played in the rural development of their surrounding communities. Importantly, data presented in this chapter also suggests a coincidence between colonial policy and the mobilization of prison labour.
