Tue Mar 25 08:05:22 UTC 2025: ## Japan Awards Record $1.44M to Wrongfully Convicted Man Released After Nearly 50 Years
**Tokyo, Japan** – Iwao Hakamada, a man wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1966, has been awarded a record-breaking 217 million yen ($1.44 million) in compensation by a Japanese court. The 89-year-old spent nearly 46 years in detention, most of it on death row, before his conviction was overturned last year.
The Shizuoka District Court’s decision marks the highest criminal compensation ever granted in Japan. Hakamada received 12,500 yen ($83) for each day of his imprisonment. His legal team, while celebrating the payout, stated that it falls far short of fully compensating for the decades of suffering he endured in solitary confinement, which severely impacted his mental health.
Hakamada’s exoneration followed a lengthy campaign by his sister and supporters. The court ruled that police had tampered with evidence, and his initial confession, obtained after 20 days of interrogation, was deemed unreliable. He was the fifth death row inmate in post-war Japan to be granted a retrial, with all five ultimately being exonerated.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about Japan’s justice system and its use of capital punishment, a practice supported by a significant portion of the public despite Japan being one of only two leading industrialized democracies, along with the United States, that still retain the death penalty.
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