Can Japan learn from Taiwan over acquittal of death row inmate?

Iwao Hakamada's 43-year quest for retrial highlights shortfalls in justice system

Iwao Hakamada was acquitted Thursday in a retrial of a 1966 murder case after spending decades on death row. © Kyodo

YUTA SHIMASAKI and KAORU YAMADA, Nikkei staff writers

September 27, 2024 06:41 JST

TOKYO -- Japan's legal system faces scrutiny and an opportunity for reform after 88-year-old former boxer Iwao Hakamada -- the world's longest-serving death row inmate -- was acquitted of murder on Thursday.

Hakamada was arrested in 1966 over the killing of a company executive and the man's three family members in Shizuoka prefecture earlier that year. Though he claimed innocence, he was ultimately sentenced to death in 1968. Japan's Supreme Court rejected his appeal in 1980.