First Posthumous Retrial: Lost Time Can Never Be Recovered

Editorial

14:39 JST, February 28, 2026

The former defendant, who persistently proclaimed his innocence, died behind bars without ever seeing his honor restored. Why could he not be saved while he was still alive? A case like this must never be allowed to happen again.

The Second Petty Bench of the Supreme Court has finalized the decision to grant a retrial to Hiromu Sakahara, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000 on a robbery-murder charge in connection with the 1984 “Hino town incident,” in which a woman who ran a liquor store was murdered in the town of Hino, Shiga Prefecture.

Sakahara petitioned for a retrial in 2001 but died of illness in 2011 at the age of 75 while serving his sentence. It will reportedly be the first posthumous retrial — in which a trial is reopened after the death of the former defendant — in postwar Japan for a case involving a finalized sentence of death or life imprisonment.

It is now highly probable that Sakahara will be acquitted following retrial proceedings at the Otsu District Court. Yet, even if his name is eventually cleared, the years he lost can never be returned.

Sakahara was arrested three years after the incident based on a confession he made. Although he pleaded not guilty at trial, arguing that his confession had been coerced, he was found guilty at the district, high and supreme court level.

A photograph in the investigative files showing Sakahara purportedly leading investigators to the site where the body was dumped served as the decisive evidence that led to his conviction.

However, items inconsistent with the photo later came to light. Negative film disclosed by prosecutors revealed images suggesting that police officers had actually been guiding Sakahara’s movements.

The existence of these negatives was only confirmed more than a decade after the initial petition for a retrial — after Sakahara had died. Why was such crucial evidence withheld for so many years?

In other cases of wrongful conviction, a recurring pattern has emerged such as the coercion of confessions to fit an investigative narrative and the selective collection of evidence. It is inevitable to conclude that investigative authorities at the time prioritized arrests and convictions of suspects — even through forced measures — over uncovering the actual truth.

The decision to grant a posthumous retrial will inevitably impact the ongoing debate over reforming Japan’s retrial system.

In both the 1966 mass murder of a family in Shizuoka Prefecture and the 1986 murder of a junior high school girl in Fukui City, it took 20 to 30 years for the evidence that led to an acquittal in a retrial to be disclosed. A mechanism to ensure the prompt disclosure of evidence is essential.

In the Hino town incident, the prosecutors appealed the decisions by the district and high courts to grant a retrial. To expedite the process, some argue that such appeals by prosecutors against retrial decisions should be prohibited.

The Diet in the future will deliberate on reform proposals, such as mandating evidence disclosure by prosecutors. To ensure that victims of false accusations receive redress as quickly as possible, the establishment of fair rules is a matter of the utmost urgency.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 28, 2026)