Iwao Hakamata finally declared not guilty in retrial
By Joe Koizumi
It was a very sad story which, however, eventually turned dramatic and heart-warming in the end. Having been detained 48 years, former boxer and ex-convict on death row Iwao Hakamata, 88, was finally sentenced not guilty in a long-awaited retrial at the Shizuoka District Court in Japan on Thursday. It was in 1966 that he, an employee, was arrested and accused of murdering four persons of the employer. It was the time that boxing itself was discriminated as poor people’s hungry sport and participants were also looked down by society. Hakamata was once forced to confess to have committed a murder due to the severe torture by the prosecutor twelve hours every day for nineteen days straight.
His elder sister Hideko, 91, had repeatedly appealed to the court that Iwao should not be guilty thanks to the nationwide support including warm and strong cooperation of former OPBF champ Shosei Nitta, then the secretary general of the JPBA (Japan Professional Boxing Association, that is, the club owners union) and other ex-boxers such as Satoshi Iida, Hiroyuki Sakamoto, Yutaka Manabe, etc. They battled against the discrimination to boxing and fought against injustice forced on Hakamata.
Judge Koshi Kunii said, “The defendant is not guilty.” He also said to his sister Hideko, “This decision has opened the door to freedom for Iwao Hakamata. As a judge, I apologize for having delayed so long.”
Iwao wasn’t at the dramatic court. Sad enough, a too-long detention caused his detainment syndrome. He has suffered such a mental decrease that he cannot properly respond to other people’s communication with him. His sister Hideko’s good information didn’t seem to be deeply appreciated by “Japanese Hurricane Carter” Iwao Hakamata, 16-11-2, just one KO but no KO defeats, including eighteen fights just in 1960. He was a very tough and durable featherweight. This reporter still remembers his indomitable fights.