Prison-made product sales recoup after pandemic, driven by online promotion

Sales of products made by prisoners in Japan have risen for four straight years, driven in part by efforts to promote them on social media, a foundation supporting the country's correctional system said.Sales totaled about 812 million yen ($5.2 million) in fiscal 2024, recovering from a sharp decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, after hitting a record low of 369 million yen in fiscal 2020, according to the Japanese Correctional Association.Prisoners nationwide have produced goods such as woodcrafts, sewn products and traditional Japanese crafts under labor programs designed to foster disci…READ FULL ARTICLE