TORTURES IN JAPAN.

Patea Mail, Volume IV, Issue 410, 22 March 1879, Page 2

TORTURES IN JAPAN.

An English' officer gives a description of the tortures practiced upon Japanese criminals to extort confessions. Some of them are terribly cruel. One of the worst -is th'e water torture-. The originators. of this cruel 'device relied upon the torment "of thirst as more powerful ’than mere corporal suffering. • The prisoner is- for several days confined to an extremely salt diet, without rice or-water.- When two or three days have- passed, the craving for water becomes incessant, and the sufferings of the tortured man approach the bounds of insanity. Efforts, arc then made to obtain confession by subjecting the sufferer to the - agony endured by Tantahiß when in the midst of the infernal lake, whose waters he could not I'touch. On all sides the thirst-distracted prisoner beholds water—watef for which he would sacrifice everything—-but which he cannot touch except - upon the condition of confession. ... . Z Another form is called; “ Kakambo zerae.” This signifies baked fish,” and is-a significant title-for this mode of torture. A charcoal fire is made in a hole in the ground arid covered with a grating. The accused is then bound, the backs of his legs and thighs are covered with a coating of mud or clay, and he is placed in a sitting posture on the grating. The fire is then stimulated'; the - clay dries, cracks, and is replaced until the continued heat causes it to tear away the -inflamed add burnt flesh. This tfas considered so

horrible a practice thatit was abolished in 1651. The “ mokuba-zema,’’ of wooden horse, eqnals in cruelty the method just • described. A wooden horse .with'. edged back is prepared, on which the . accused . is placed in a nude state; . Two executioners then seize the arms'npd feet nnd . draw the sufferer down- backward upon - the wooden edge. A , machine -is- 'also used for the purpose, by means of which sufficient force can be applied to dislocate every joint and to inflict an 'agonising death upon the unfortunate wretch subjected to torture of the mokaha. In the method called ‘ c hashlgo-zeme"'i •• (the. ladder) the accused ia bound to a, 4 . horizontal ladder, and the >executioners;;. force him to drink immense quantities of•Water. When "the swollen body of the j victim gives indication: that no more ! water caa : he t'aten in, a broad and heavy ,v. piece of Wood ifc'used ’in each a manner "* •’that the water is violently driven back '•> m the direction of the head, and forcedout of eyes, mouth, and nostrils. Wheat this torture is applied with severity, the victim seldom,.if ever, recovers.

A barbarous torture is “ netto-zeme ” (boiling water). This is performed JLJ At binding the sufferer to a frame, the whole of his back, the position being of such a kind as to strain alt the important muscles. Incisions are then made in the skin, and are washed with boiling water until the wonnds gape wide. Should the prisoner still be mute, or it is advisable to make a terrible example of one to strike fear into his accomplices, molten lead is then poured. r ‘ into the open wounds. According to the ' chronicle, a dark vapour rises,in the air, and the body speedily becomes of the . color of cinnabar. The consequences of ■ this horrible tortnre must be apparent. One of themost. horrible is “hebize’rae” . (snakes). The accused is placed within a copper utensil having a perforation large enough to permit his head to pass through. A number of venomous snakes are then introduced, and spirit is'poured into the box. Fireis then applied until the heated spirit drives the snakes to furious attacks upon the naked body of the victim, This torture, with hellish ‘ cruelty, is especially used in cases of women, because of the natural antipathy ' of that sex to reptiles • and creeping things of all descriptions.