The way the Japanese government handled Hansen’s disease patients during the 20th century wasn’t very humane. They were sent to live in sanatoriums, separated from their families, and shunned by society.
One man is trying to right a wrong that has gone unaddressed for more than half a century.
In 1952, a man was murdered. The accused was arrested and sentenced to death. However, his guilt was never clearly established, and he repeatedly proclaimed his innocence. And there was no concrete evidence.
Yasushi Shimura, who is now 83 years old, was assigned to visit the prisoner, and he agreed that the man’s guilt was a long shot. He was only concerned about his daughter, and always looked Shimura in the eye when they spoke. At the time of his arrest, the man, whose name has not been made public at the request of his survivors, was on his way to a sanatorium because he had Hansen’s disease. He was put to death in 1962.
The perceived injustice has haunted Shimura for all these years.
Today, he is seeking a retrial to clear the man’s name. He feels the evidence presented at the original trial was inconsequential, and the defense was shoddy. The man was tried from a quarantined area, and all the paperwork was handled with chopsticks.
Shimura says that if his request for a retrial is denied, he will seek reparation from the government for the man’s family, who remain anonymous.
