Yoshie Shiratori - Born in Aomori Prefecture in 1907, Yoshie Shiratori is the only Japanese to escape from prison four times. Yoshie was separated from his real parents at an early age. He was married and had a child, but was later imprisoned for robbery.

Yoshie was a handyman at a small tofu store, and committed his first crime in 1933 by burglarizing a house with his friend. Two years later, in August 1935, he was arrested, the reason for his arrest being a denunciation from a friend with whom he went on a theft spree. In December of the same year, he was transferred to Aomori Prison, where the story began.

He made his first escape at the age of 28, in June 1936 from Aomori Prison, he was placed in solitary confinement and allowed to walk around the prison yard. Yoshie watched the guards and was able to steal a key from them and made a copy of it. However, he was arrested three days later. In November of that year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and was sent back to prison.

Yoshie was transferred to Akita Prison in October 1941, based on an order to transfer criminals during the war.

The conditions in Akita Prison were terrible. There was no lighting in the cells and the only sources of light were a small 20 watt bulb and light from a window on the ceiling. In his cell, Yoshie was handcuffed, only taken off when he ate or went to the toilet. He noticed that the iron frame around the bars on the ceiling was beginning to rust. While working at the factory, he collected pieces of tin and rusty nails, and at night climbed up to the ceiling where the grating was located. The work was done as the guard shift was going on, so the work took only 10 minutes a day. In June 1942 he managed to cut through the iron and get out of the cell, using logs from the prison factory he overcame the wall and disappeared.

In mid-September 1942, Yoshie was caught again and sentenced to three years in prison for escaping. Then, in April 1943, he was transferred to Amisato Prison.

At the prison, he was kept in the 4th ward, cell 24. It was a special cell for especially dangerous criminals. Yoshie was fixed on his arms and legs and could move only lying down. His treatment was terrible, in addition to constant psychological abuse, he was subjected to beatings by the prison administration. After another beating, an infection got into the wound on his leg and only by a miracle the limb was saved. After this incident, the guards removed the shackles from his legs, leaving only the handcuffs.

To get rid of Yoshie's handcuffs, everyone sprayed them with miso soup, which was part of the prison ration. This soup, with its high salt content, caused corrosion, which allowed him to break free on the day of his escape. He loosened the bars on the wooden door at night and then, at the end of August 1944, when the changing of the guard was delayed due to a power cut, the iron bars on the door were removed. He poked his head through the gap and dislocated his shoulder joint and made his escape from the cell. Yoshie overcame the wall using lampposts and made his third escape at the age of 37.

After escaping from Amisato Prison, Yoshie fled to the mountains and lived there for two years. In August 1946, while descending the mountain, he was mistaken for a watermelon thief near a watermelon field; local residents apprehended Yoshie and handed him over to the police. Yoshie was eventually sentenced to death and imprisoned in Sapporo Prison in February 1947.

Because he managed to escape three times, the prison authorities doubled the guards. A special cell was prepared, all doors, windows, iron bars, and windows were reinforced. But even in such conditions, Yoshie had an escape plan. The only weak point in the cell was the floor. To make a passage in the floor Yoshie used nails and small metal plates, which he took from the gang when the prisoners were taken to the bath. After a while, he managed to make a passage under the floor by digging out about 2 meters of soil with his hands and utensils. The prison wall was overcome by climbing a snowdrift. Yoshie managed to escape from Sapporo Prison at the age of 39.

After Yoshie was caught again and returned to prison, the new warden did not treat him more harshly, but rather treated him with the same humanity as the other prisoners. In the new prison he found a job, first he made mailing envelopes and then he learned carpentry skills.

Yoshie Shiratori spent 28 years from 1935 to 1961 in prison. He was released when postwar reconstruction ended and a period of rapid economic growth began. Building construction began in Tokyo, and all of Japan was eager to host the Tokyo Olympics. Yoshie worked as a carpenter on the rack and never committed another crime.

Yoshie's life story became the basis for the movie Prison Break in Japanese:『破獄』,by Mr. Akira Yoshimura and then reshot for NHK channel in 1985.