major imprisonment; imprisonment with hard labor
Obsolete legal term from the former Japanese Penal Code; a severe form of imprisonment that included compulsory hard labor. Replaced by modern 懲役 (ちょうえき).
See also: 軽禁錮 (けいきんこ)
Under the old Penal Code, major imprisonment was a heavier punishment than minor imprisonment.
Standard kanji form for this obsolete legal term.
Variant spelling using 固 instead of 錮; both refer to the same historical punishment.
Compound of 重 (heavy, severe) and 禁錮 (imprisonment), a term used in the former Japanese Penal Code (abolished in 1908).