DEATH PENALTY

Murder Victims’ Families
Although Harada’s case is often mentioned as “exceptional,” I also
recall the words of another family member who had continued a
struggle to see an offender sentenced to death for nearly 13 years.
Hiroshi Motomura’s wife and baby daughter were murdered by an
18-year-old boy. 22 He had been originally sentenced to life imprisonment,
but the Supreme Court reversed it and remanded the case
for further hearing. He was resentenced to death. When the Supreme
Court finally upheld the ultimate punishment, Motomura said, “the
death sentence was what I had demanded and therefore is satisfactory.
But I don’t feel glad. I just solemnly accept the outcome.” 23 Then
he added that he had felt uneasy to be regarded as an advocate of
the death penalty. “Time is the best consultant. I became able to see
the incident dispassionately.” He said that for the deprivation of the
lives of his wife, his daughter, and the offender to not end in vain, “I
hope, with this case as a start, people would think what we should
do to realize a society without incidents which would result in death
sentences.” 24 He also revealed that he had got remarried, saying that
“I am weak but I could meet a wonderful woman who supports me.
I think it is also important to live a forward-looking life, with a smile
on my face.”
On the one hand, each victim is unique; on the other hand, victims
share common experiences. As victims who lost their loved ones to
violent acts, they are severely hurt, and their daily lives are completely
broken. Nevertheless, they need to live on. They have to live their
own lives. In order that they could recover from oppressive sorrows
and damages, they desperately need someone’s support.
Fumiko Isogai delivered a speech before an audience of 300, six
months after the execution of Tsukasa Kanda, who had been sentenced
to death for the murder of her daughter. While she repeated
her dissatisfaction at sentencing decisions, she talked about how
she had been hurt by people’s careless remarks or attitudes, and she
stressed the necessity of supports for victim’s families from right after
the crime. 25 No doubt, she had also been pushed over the cliff and
22 In Japan, persons under 20 years of age are treated as juvenile.
23 Minoru Matsutani, “Double-killer as minor will face gallows,” The Japan Times, February 21, 2012.
24 Mainichi Shimbun (local news for Okayama Prefecture), February 20, 2010.
25 Mainichi Shimbun, November 29, 2015.
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