The Japanese who spent the longest time on death row has been released: why do the prisoners there go crazy?

Iwao Hakamadathe person who spent the most time in Japanese death rowjust released after 56 years behind bars. He is 88 years old and it makes sense that he has some dementia today. However, his sister says his letters became legible soon after he went to prison. Like many other prisoners sentenced to death in Japan, Hakamada lost his mind.

Prisoners often suffer mental health problems while serving a sentence, regardless of the conditions of imprisonment. However, death row in Japan is known for the terrible conditions in which prisoners wait in the wings. For some this happens quickly, but others, like Iwao Hakamada, spend decades alone with your thoughts and in conditions that are difficult for the brain to bear.

It is logical if we add to this cognitive impairment Upon reaching adulthood, they may be able to return home, but some of them will remain in this cell forever.

Iwao Hakamada case

Iwao Hakamada In his youth he was a boxer. However, he soon retired and began working in miso factory. It was 1968 when his boss, his wife and two children were stabbed to death in their home. The killer also set the building on fire to destroy all evidence. But, curiously, despite the fact that he put so much effort into erasing his trace, he left some pants with blood in one of the miso tanks at the factory. The police had no doubt that the pants belonged to Iwao Hakamada, although they were too small for his build.

He was sentenced to death for four murders and placed on death row at the age of 32. Since then, his family, as well as many anti-death penalty activists in Japan, have They declared their innocence. It has always been argued that the evidence against him is contradictory. However, it was difficult to prove both his innocence and guilt, since at that time there were no techniques to analyze human DNA. crime scene. In fact, the first crime solved in this way occurred in 1986.

However, Iwao Hakamada had to wait longer for his case to be heard. This was not in the 80s or 90s, but in 2014, when the necessary permissions were finally obtained to re-analyze the pants. It was proven that the DNA did not belong to him and was therefore almost unjustly locked up for half a century.

The case was reopened and, given the elderly prisoner’s health problems, he was allowed to await a new trial at home. There he was cared for by his sister, who now celebrates his innocence but regrets the time lost.

Why do they lose their minds?

Death row prisoners live in Japan tiny cellswith very poor thermal insulation. It is very cold in winter and very hot in summer. They have no contact with anyone, and are not even allowed to make the last call before death, which they can make in the United States, another democratic and industrialized country that retains the death penalty. As if all this wasn’t enough, the cells lights on 24 hours a day and they are not allowed to wear masks, which also seriously affects their health.

In 1989 the term was coined “Death Row Syndrome” or “Death Row Phenomenon”. Currently, it is still not recognized as a disorder in psychiatric guidelines. However, more and more experts are using it to refer to the mental health problems faced by the vast majority of death row inmates.

Research on this phenomenon was carried out in the USA. However, this can be extrapolated to Japan, since the conditions of detention of Japanese prisoners are even harsher. Iwao Hakamada is a good example of this.

Death row syndrome is characterized by very strong emotional discomfortstemming from isolation and uncertainty. These people can spend years in a small space, without contact with anyone and without the slightest idea of ​​when their time will come. This causes anxiety, depression, as well as physical discomfort. In fact, many prisoners die of natural causes while awaiting the death penalty. There are also many suicides.

The Case of the Mask and Iwao Hakamada’s Disease

One of the factors that aggravates the symptoms of Death Row Syndrome is a lack of natural light. This is what was studied in the USA. However, in Japan, not only are they not exposed to natural light, but they are also exposed to artificial lighting for 24 hourswithout the possibility of using a mask.

Our body follows very regular sleep-wake cycles set by circadian rhythms. When the brain detects light penetrating the retina, it suppresses the secretion melatonin, a hormone that helps you sleep. This tells us that it’s time to wake up. On the other hand, when it starts to get dark and no light penetrates through the retina, it begins to produce melatonin so that we can fall asleep. Japanese death row inmates like Iwao Hakamada must have serious problems producing melatonin because light always penetrates their retinas. No matter how much you close your eyes, something passes through your eyelids.

This, logically, is an excellent cause of insomnia, which in the long run can cause serious health problems, both physical and mental. This is one of the main reasons why Japanese prisoners lose their minds. And this may also have been the cause of Iwao Hakamada’s dementia. Dementia that, according to his sister, could already be seen in the letters he sent when he was only about 30 years old.