Hostage justice

The Asian Journal of Criminology (2022)[1] describes 4 main problems in Japan's justice system that systematically mistreat criminal suspects.

Fourth being having a “substitute imprisonment” (daiyo kangoku) system where prosecutors often detain suspects in police holding cells (ryuchijo) instead of official detention centers (kochisho) (Croydon 2016[3]).

Japan Times[5] reported the case of Masaaki Okawara, who along with others was accused of illegally exporting spray dryers.

In March 2020, Masaaki Okawara, Junji Shimada, and Shizuo Aishima were arrested despite their demonstration of the safety of products to the police.

In February 2021, Okawara and Shimada bail requests were finally approved; due to a lack of evidence, charges were dropped before the start of trial in August of the same year.

In December 2023, The Tokyo District Court ruled that the arrests of Okawara, Shimada, and Aishima had been unlawful, and the indictments against them between March and June 2020 were illegal.

BBC[7] reported that Carlos Ghosn's, former chairman of Nissan who was arrested for understating his annual salary and misusing company funds in November 2018.

[8] Le Figaro reported that Carlos Ghosn's French lawyers described his continued Japanese detention in a complaint filed with the UNHCR as "hostage justice".

[9] CNN quoted Jeff Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University's Japan campus, stating "That system of hostage justice, I think, does not bear scrutiny.