While her university classmates were busy studying or job hunting, Mao Nakagawa was stuck at her home in Shizuoka, struggling with depression.

She often lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking, “I just want to disappear.”

Nakagawa graduated without even looking for a job.

In September last year, as her condition improved, Nakagawa, now 24, was in her living room when a newspaper headline caught her eye.

The story was about the “Hakamada case,” and it brought back memories from her junior high school social studies class.

“I think I learned about this,” she thought. “It was a wrongful conviction case that happened here.”

The story was about a court granting a retrial for Iwao Hakamada, who had been sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering four people in 1966.

The article mentioned that the first hearing of the retrial was set for Oct. 27, 2023, at the Shizuoka District Court.

Intrigued, Nakagawa decided to attend the court session that day. “It’s a famous case, and I might meet some court enthusiasts. The courthouse isn’t far from home.”

When she arrived, the voices of demonstrators echoed outside the courthouse, “Iwao Hakamada is innocent!”

Some held banners and others shouted for justice.

Nakagawa had always associated demonstrations with radical student movements of the 1960s.

She had studied the protests at university, and she felt that all demonstrators were an intimidating and extreme lot.

But the people outside the court on Oct. 27 were kind.

One of them told her: “I’m glad to see young people taking an interest. Keep coming back!”

SHARING COURTROOM REPORTS ON BLOG

Nakagawa wanted to learn more about the case, so she began regularly attending the retrial hearings.

Hoping to spread interest among younger people, she started a blog under her real name and began sharing her observations on social media.

She wrote what she observed in the courtroom and included illustrations and descriptions of expressions of those involved so that readers could picture what was happening.

For example, when a recording of Hakamada’s “confession” was played in the court, she wrote: “The moment the raw audio from the interrogation 58 years ago filled the courtroom, the three prosecutors had expressions that seemed to say, ‘This is terrible … .’”

She continued: “Hakamada’s voice, which defied the interrogator at first, grew weaker and nearly inaudible. Twelve hours a day on average―enough to quickly break down both body and mind.”

Hakamada was given permission not to attend the retrial because of the mental disorders he developed during his many years on death row. He stayed at his sister’s house in Shizuoka.

Nakagawa visited Hakamada at the home and talked with him.

“How old are you now?” Nakagawa asked.

“I’m 23,” Hakamada replied.

“We’re the same age. Let’s be friends,” she said.

“Sure,” he said.

Hakamada, who is now 88, was 23 years old when he made his debut as a professional boxer.

Seven years later, he was arrested on suspicion of murder and robbery. Fifty-eight years have now passed since he was first detained.

Nakagawa felt the weight of the years that had been stolen from him.

As she continued attending the retrial hearings and interacting with Hakamada and his supporters, she began to notice a change in her own mindset.

When she was struggling with depression, she felt that “speaking out wouldn’t change anything in society.”

But seeing the former death row inmate and his supporters standing up against injustice and fighting to protect the dignity of life made her understand how wrong she had been.

For the first time, she felt, “I have to keep living, too.”

MESSAGE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA GENERATION

On Sept. 26 this year, the Shizuoka District Court declared Hakamada not guilty.

Nakagawa’s eyes filled with tears when she saw Hakamada saying, “We won innocence,” at a briefing session.

On Oct. 8, prosecutors decided not to appeal the ruling, making Hakamada’s acquittal final.

“I’m very glad, but the lost time can never be recovered” Nakagawa said. “I don’t want to just leave the case as ‘that’s good enough.’”

Nakagawa believes the root causes of wrongful convictions remain unresolved.

She feels that society still tends to think it’s acceptable to say anything about someone who has been arrested or looks suspicious.

Since she started sharing her observations on her blog, Nakagawa has received messages of support from people her age.

In an era when unverified information spreads easily online, she hopes young people who frequently use social media will learn lessons from Hakamada’s wrongful conviction.

“I used to look at the faces of people who were arrested and assumed, ‘This person must have committed the crime,’” she said. “I want everyone to realize that, without knowing it, we could be contributing to creating victims of wrongful convictions.”

Nakagawa hopes to one day help vulnerable people in society, possibly as a lawyer.

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For details of Hakamada’s trial and letters that he sent to his family while on death row for decades, check out https://www.asahi.com/special/hakamadaletters/en/.