"1 white steak; medium-rare".

[Rev. Rye]

Sagawa was free in Japan due to a legal loophole. And after that, it was impossible for him to find a job, which, in its way, is kind of worse than life in prison. After all, in jail, at the very least, you get the first tier of your Maslovian heirarchy covered. You at least get food, water, and a roof over your head. After that, of course, you're on your own unless some more senior prisoner decides to make you his prag. Meanwhile, after he was freed, well, at least after his first wave of notoriety died down in the mid-nineties, it became hard for him to find a living, and even those first-tier needs were in jeopardy.