Asato Takasaka

Executive Director, Aichi Reoffending Prevention Support Center, Japan

He is the representative of a non-profit support organisation and has lived experience, including arrest and placement in correctional institutions. He currently serves as President of the Aichi Reoffending Prevention Support Center, Representative Director of the Japan Association of Self-Reliance Preparation Homes, radio personality for Kosei Radio on FM Toyota, volunteer probation officer in the Moriyama Probation District, and volunteer visitor at Aichi Juvenile Training School.
In these roles, he has been involved in the operation and organisational development of self-reliance preparation homes, a wide range of support through disability welfare services, and cross-regional support for delinquent youth and other justice-involved individuals in collaboration with private organisations. He has also participated in consultation meetings with the Correction Bureau and Rehabilitation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, conducted nationwide surveys of juvenile training schools and self-reliance preparation homes, and delivered presentations at the 3rd World Congress on Probation and the Youth Forum of the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (the Kyoto Congress).

Yukiko Shiokawa

Correctional Psychologist, Nagano Prison, Japan

The presenter completed a graduate degree in clinical psychology and has since worked for approximately 15 years as a psychological technical officer and investigation specialist in correctional institutions under the Ministry of Justice in Japan, including juvenile classification homes, detention centers, and prisons. My professional work has focused on classification assessments designed to inform treatment and rehabilitative planning, particularly through cognitive and psychological evaluations of juvenile and adult offenders. In addition, I have been engaged in counselling, treatment-oriented interviews, and community-based consultation services.
Alongside my professional practice, my experience as a mother of three has led me to reflect on how to support individuals in their processes of growth and change. Specifically, I have presented my research at academic conferences and symposia in Japan, focusing on the relationship between desistance from juvenile delinquency and experiences of incarceration in correctional institutions, and have actively contributed to academic discussions in this area. I am currently engaged in research that aims to explore how practitioners can effectively support desistance from offending, with a view to informing practical interventions.

Akinari Hayashi

Correctional Psychologist / Doctoral Student, Niigata Prison / Nagoya University, Japan

The presenter, Akinari Hayashi, is a correctional psychologist currently on self-development leave. He has worked in correctional institutions for 15 years, including juvenile classification homes, juvenile training schools, juvenile prisons, a PFI prison, and a prison for repeat offenders. His academic specialty is criminal psychology, and he has conducted interview-based research with people released from correctional institutions, with a particular interest in desistance from delinquency and crime.
He is currently enrolled in the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Nagoya University. His current research focuses on lived-experience-based support and comparative studies of probation, rehabilitation systems, and support organisations in Japan and the UK.