Acquitted Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate Seeks $1.3 Million From Japan

Iwao Hakamada, the world's longest-serving death row inmate, is now seeking justice beyond his acquittal. The 88-year-old former boxer, who was declared innocent last year after spending over four decades in confinement, has filed a claim for $1.3 million in compensation from the Japanese government. His case, one of Japan’s most significant miscarriages of justice, has drawn international attention to the country’s legal system and treatment of death row inmates.

Hakamada was convicted in 1966 for the murder of a family of four, a crime he has always maintained he did not commit. His conviction was largely based on a forced confession obtained through brutal interrogations. Last year, after decades of legal battles, a regional court ruled that police had tampered with key evidence, leading to his retrial and eventual exoneration. The decision was a long-overdue victory for Hakamada, but the damage inflicted by his years in solitary confinement remains irreversible.

On Wednesday, Hakamada and his defense team filed a claim with the Shizuoka District Court, demanding compensation for the years of wrongful imprisonment and psychological trauma he endured. Under Japan’s criminal compensation law, the government is required to pay 12,500 yen ($81) per day spent in detention once an acquittal is finalized. In Hakamada’s case, this amounts to 200 million yen ($1.3 million)—the maximum possible amount under the law.

His lawyer, Hideyo Ogawa, has argued that this sum is far from adequate, given the extreme suffering Hakamada endured. Unlike ordinary prisoners, death row inmates in Japan are kept in near-total isolation, living each day under the constant fear of execution. His legal team has repeatedly highlighted that the decades spent on death row have severely impacted his mental health, with some reports suggesting that he struggles to differentiate between reality and fantasy.

Japan’s death penalty system has long been criticized by human rights organizations for its secrecy and harsh conditions. Executions are carried out without prior notice to the inmate or their family, adding to the psychological distress of those awaiting their fate. Despite international criticism, Japan continues to retain capital punishment, with strong public support for the practice. Along with the United States, it remains one of the few industrialized democracies where the death penalty is still enforced.

Hakamada’s case is not an isolated one. He is the fifth death row inmate in Japan’s post-war history to be granted a retrial, and in all previous cases, the defendants were also exonerated. This raises serious concerns about the potential for wrongful convictions in Japan’s legal system, particularly in cases where confessions are obtained under duress. His acquittal has once again fueled debates over police misconduct, judicial accountability, and the future of capital punishment in the country.