Yoshie Shiratori, Japan’s most legendary escape artist who escaped prison 4 times.

Escape #1: Yoshie’s journey started at Aomori Prison, where he was locked up for murder and robbery. Three years in, he found a short wire in a wooden bathing bucket and used it to pick the lock on his handcuffs. But freedom only lasted three days, though, before he was caught and slapped with a life sentence.

Escape #2: In 1942, Yoshie was sent to Akita Prison, but this guy didn’t give up easily. He climbed the smooth walls of his cell at night, dismantled an air vent, and slipped out. After escaping, he made a bold move: he went to the home of a kind-hearted police officer he remembered from Aomori Prison. Unfortunately, the officer turned him in, leaving Yoshie with a hard lesson—never trust a cop.

Escape #3: Next stop: Abashiri Prison, a fortress in Northern Hokkaido reserved for the worst of the worst. The guards were sure this place would break him. But Yoshie had other plans. Every day, he spat miso soup on his cell doorframe. Why? The salt and moisture slowly corroded the metal. During a blackout in 1944, Yoshie dislocated his shoulders, squeezed through the food slot in his cell, and escaped—wearing nothing but his underwear. Abashiri Prison Museum even has a statue of him in honor of this wild escape (picture 1).

Escape #4: After his third escape, Yoshie was sentenced to death and placed under 24-hour surveillance at Sapporo Prison. The guards were so confident in his reinforced cell that they stopped handcuffing him. Using a food bowl, Yoshie loosened the bolts on the wooden floorboards and dug his way to freedom.