46 Yrs On Death Row For A Crime He Didn’t Commit — Exonerated Japan Prisoner Gets Record Compensation
Iwao Hakamada has received $1.4 million compensation for police coerced confession and evidence manipulation, becoming Japan's longest-serving death row inmate to be exonerated through retrial.
A Japanese man who spent more than four decades on death row for a crime he didn’t commit has been awarded ¥142 million (approximately $1.4 million or Rs 20 crore ) in compensation, news agency AFP reported, quoting officials. Iwao Hakamada, now 89 years old, was wrongfully convicted of a 1966 quadruple murder and became the world’s longest-serving death row inmate. The compensation amounts to ¥12,500 (about $83) for each of the 46 years he spent behind bars — most of it under the constant threat of execution.
A former professional boxer, Hakamada was officially exonerated in 2024 after years of relentless advocacy by his sister and supporters. In a retrial, the court ruled in September that he was not guilty and found that police had manipulated evidence in the original case.
The court acknowledged that Hakamada endured “inhumane interrogations meant to force a statement (confession)”, which he later recanted, the AFP report said. Quoting local media, the report said the compensation marks a record high for a case of this nature.
However, his legal team maintains that no amount of money can make up for the immense suffering he endured. They say the decades of isolation and the looming threat of execution severely damaged his mental health, leaving him “living in a world of fantasy".
Hakamada is only the fifth death row inmate in postwar Japan to be granted a retrial. All four previous cases also ended in exoneration.
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Who Is Iwao Hakamada, And What Happened in 1966?
Iwao Hakamada was a former professional boxer who retired in 1961 and later found work at a soybean processing plant in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture. Divorced and juggling jobs, he also worked part-time at a local bar. His life took a dramatic turn in 1966 when he was arrested in connection with a brutal crime that shocked the nation.
On June 30, 1966, the owner of the soybean factory where Hakamada was employed, along with his wife and two teenage children, were found murdered in their home. All four had been stabbed, and the house was set on fire afterward. Approximately ¥80,000 in cash was also reported missing, according to an article in the The Japan Times.
Police arrested Hakamada on August 18 that year, citing traces of blood and gasoline discovered on his pajamas. Although the blood was not his, authorities claimed it linked him to the crime scene.
Initially, Hakamada reportedly confessed during police interrogation but later retracted his statement, saying the confession was coerced under duress.
A year later, in August 1967, investigators claimed to have found five blood-stained items of clothing submerged in a miso tank —evidence that would later become highly controversial. Hakamada denied the clothing belonged to him, but despite his protests, the Shizuoka District Court found him guilty and sentenced him to death in 1968 by a narrow 2-1 decision.
Notably, the dissenting judge, who believed Hakamada was innocent, resigned from his post six months after the verdict, reportedly disheartened by his inability to prevent the ruling, as reported by CNN.
In September 2024, a Japan court acquitted Hakamada, declaring him "innocent".
His 91-year-old sister Hideko had said then Hakamata was not in a mental state to fully grasp or celebrate his acquittal. He was "living in his own world", and showed little interest in interacting with others, she had told CNN. "We have not even discussed the trial with Iwao," Hideko said, adding that he was no longer able to "recognize reality".
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