Japan Honors Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate with $1.4M Payout

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Japan’s Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate Awarded $1.4 Million

A Japanese man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and held on death row for more than four decades has been granted $1.4 million in compensation, officials announced on Tuesday.

This payment equates to approximately 12,500 yen ($83) for each day that Iwao Hakamada spent in custody, the majority of which he endured while awaiting execution.

Now 89 years old, Hakamada was exonerated last year for a 1966 murder in which he was accused of killing four people. His release came after years of relentless advocacy from his sister and supporters.

According to a spokesman from the Shizuoka District Court, the court’s decision on Monday stated, "The claimant shall be granted 217,362,500 yen."

In a previous ruling in September, the same court declared Hakamada not guilty in a retrial, highlighting issues of police evidence manipulation.

During his incarceration, Hakamada underwent what the court described as "inhumane interrogations designed to extract a confession." He later retracted that confession.

Local media reported that the compensation amount is a record for cases of this nature. However, Hakamada’s legal representatives argue that the amount does not adequately reflect the immense suffering he endured.

His lengthy imprisonment, shadowed by the constant threat of execution, significantly impacted Hakamada’s mental health. His attorneys have described him as "living in a world of fantasy."

Hakamada is notable for being the fifth death row inmate in Japan’s post-war era to receive a retrial, with all previous cases resulting in exonerations.