Prison escape stories have long seemed to capture ... the human spirit and our feelings of empathy crack through. Japan's "Abashiri Prison," set on the brutally cold northern island of Hokkaido ...

He escapes handcuffed to dangerous Gunda, who instigated the escape. Thus tethered, they start out on a journey across the desolate snow country of Hokkaido.

Constructed in the late nineteenth century to house political prisoners, Japan's infamous Abashiri Prison served as the inspiration for a popular and prolific run of yakuza movies released between ...