On Thursday, September 26^th, 2024, 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who was convicted of a quadruple murder in Japan and sent to prison on death row for 46 years, was found not guilty. The Japanese court stated that evidence against Hakamada had been fabricated, and he was forced to confess to a crime he did not commit due to “inhumane” interrogations and torture. Although his family can finally rest knowing that the death penalty no longer hangs over Hakamada’s head, it is not yet official until the Japanese court concludes the case. This ultimately drives the question of the continuous existence of the death penalty within the Japanese justice system.

According to CBS News, Hakamada spoke out about the new ruling saying, “Finally I have won full and complete victory.” Additionally, according to the Associated Press, Hideyo Ogawa, the lead lawyer of Hakamada’s defense team has said that they are considering “filing a damage suit against the government over the fabrication of evidence that ruined the man’s life and his mental health by keeping him in prison for 48 years.”

It is encouraging that Hakamada is now free after being on death row for 46 years and in prison for 48. However, the failure by the Japanese justice system has stripped him of a fulfilling life and boxing career. After all the inhumane interrogation he had to go through,  Hakamada’s defense team’s decision to sue is justified. As much as it was saddening to hear about the victims of the murder, it was equivocally heartbreaking that Hakamada was wrongfully accused of something someone else did. One can only hope that the real perpetrator is caught, and the justice system is penalized for their mistake in Hakamada’s case.

Japan has been condemned for keeping capital punishment. Japan and the United States are the only democratic countries that still have the death penalty. Hakamada is not the only death row inmate that was exonerated, he is the fifth to have been wrongfully convicted. Similarly, the U.S. has also had exonerations in the past for death row inmates. Because of Hakamada’s wrongful conviction and having spent 48 years in prison, it sparks criticism of the Japanese justice system and the existence of the death penalty. One can only hope that more people like Hakamada can get the justice they deserve before it is too late.