Japanese father arrested for allegedly caging his son for more than two decades

A 73-year old Japanese man has been arrested by the police on suspicion of keeping his son in a wooden cage for over 20 years. Foreign media stated that the father, Yoshitane Yamasaki has said that he locked up his son (42) because he suffered mental problems and was violent at times. The cage is 1m in height and less than 2m wide. It was built in a hut next to Yamasaki's house in Sanda. The son now suffers from a bent back and is being looked after by Japanese authorities. The media reports that he has been in the care of a social welfare facility in western Japan since January. According to the investigators, it is believed that Yamasaki began confining his mentally ill son from the age of 16 when he began to “act up”. For the time being, police have only arrested the pensioner for caging his son for 36 hours on 18 January. Yamasaki has reportedly admitted the allegations, telling authorities that he fed his son every day, and allowed him to bath every other day.