After 58 Years of Fighting, 92-Year-Old Hideko Hakamada Continues Campaign Against Japan's Death Penalty

Hideko Hakamada refuses to stop after her brother's exoneration

At 92, Hideko Hakamada remains a tireless campaigner against capital punishment after winning the long fight to clear her younger brother's name. Iwao Hakamada — once the world's longest-serving death-row inmate — was formally exonerated in 2024 after being convicted in a 1966 quadruple murder. Hideko has spent nearly six decades pushing for justice and now channels that energy into broader abolition efforts in Japan and abroad.

Background and court findings

In overturning Iwao's conviction, a court found that police tampered with evidence and used what it described as 'inhumane interrogations' designed to extract a confession that he later retracted. The former professional boxer endured 46 years on death row, much of it in solitary confinement; under Japanese procedure, inmates are commonly informed of an execution only on the morning it is to be carried out.

“Courts are run by people and they obviously make mistakes. I fought for 58 years. I cannot just be sad and slow down,” Hideko told reporters at a Tokyo congress on the death penalty in East Asia.

Life after release

Now 89, Iwao spends his days resting and going on drives with supporters. Hideko describes him as a changed, fragile man: 'The lasting effects of his incarceration cannot be cured.' Still, she says she deliberately keeps a bright demeanour for his sake: 'There is no point in being sad now. If I stay happy and bright, then Iwao should also feel that.'

In March 2024, Iwao was awarded roughly 200 million yen (about $1.3 million) in compensation — equivalent to roughly $80 per day for each day he spent detained — and additional lawsuits remain pending.

Broader context and activism

Hideko spoke at a regional congress in Tokyo organised by the France-based group Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM). The meeting drew activists from across East Asia, including China and North Korea, and precedes a global ECPM conference scheduled for Paris in 2026.

Japan is one of only two G7 countries that retain capital punishment; the United States is the other. Public support for the death penalty remains strong in Japan, which has more than 100 people currently on death row. ECPM recorded at least 1,151 executions globally in 2024 but cautioned that official figures — especially for China, where executions are state secrets — likely undercount the true total. The organisation estimates at least 30,000 people remain on death row worldwide and notes that Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq are also among the leading executioners.

Why this matters

Hideko's campaign is a reminder of how wrongful convictions and coerced confessions can have lifelong consequences for prisoners and families. Her persistence — campaigning for 58 years — has turned a deeply personal battle into a public call for systemic reform, transparency in policing and renewed debate over capital punishment in Japan and beyond.