Sakae Menda

Quick Facts: Who was Sakae Menda?

Subject:

Sakae Menda

Known for:

Japanese man wrongfully convicted of murder, exonerated in 1983, becoming a death penalty abolitionist.

Born:

1925-11-04

Died:

2020-12-05

Century / Era:

1925s Historical Era Archive

Verified Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Primary Historical Archives

Origins & Early Life

Sakae Menda (免田栄, Menda Sakae; November 4, 1925 – December 5, 2020) was a Japanese man who was wrongfully convicted of a double-homicide and sentenced to death in 1949, but was later exonerated by retrial in 1983. This was the first time anyone was ever released from death row by retrial in Japan. He was a leading figure in Japan for the movement to abolish the death penalty. On December 30, 1948, an unknown killer broke into the house of a 76-year-old Buddhist priest and his 52-year-old wife in the city of Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, murdered them using an axe and a knife, and wounded their two young daughters, aged 12 and 14; during this time. In January 1949, Menda, a poor and illiterate farmhand who also sold rice on the black market, was arrested after being accused of stealing rice.

Career & Major Achievements

He was released, but soon after re-arrested on suspicion of the murder. Police held Menda in their custody for 23 days. While imprisoned, he was starved of food and water, not allowed to sleep, and beaten with bamboo sticks while being suspended upside down from a ceiling, and not allowed access to a lawyer. One interrogator threatened to "break his head with a 1.8-liter glass sake bottle” if Menda did not confess to the murder. The police eventually coerced Menda into signing a written statement confirming he had committed the murder.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

A lawyer was only provided to Menda after he had confessed. The lawyer, a Buddhist monk, came to pray for him; Menda was offered no professional expertise to help him fight the charges, and instead told to accept his charges. His trial did not include any physical evidence or the witness accounts that proved Menda was at a guesthouse in the company of a prostitute when the murder took place; the prostitute was coerced by police into stating they had met on a different day. Menda was charged with two counts of murder and robbery, to which he pled innocent; he was convicted. On March 23, 1950, Judge Haruo Kinoshita sentenced him to death.

Chronological Milestones & Life Events

1. 1925 (1925-11-04): Birth of Sakae Menda — Japanese man wrongfully convicted of murder, exonerated in 1983, becoming a death penalty abolitionist.
2. 1948: 1948 Milestone — On December 30, 1948, an unknown killer broke into the house of a 76-year-old Buddhist priest and his 52-year-old wife in the city of Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, murdered them using an axe and a knife, and wounded their two young daughters, aged 12 and 14; during this time.
3. 1949: 1949 Milestone — In January 1949, Menda, a poor and illiterate farmhand who also sold rice on the black market, was arrested after being accused of stealing rice.
4. 1950: 1950 Milestone — On March 23, 1950, Judge Haruo Kinoshita sentenced him to death.
5. 2020 (2020-12-05): Passing & Historical Legacy — Sakae Menda passed away on 2020-12-05, leaving an enduring historical legacy.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Sakae Menda

True or False: “Sakae Menda was the first person ever released from death row by retrial in Japan.”

Answer (TRUE ⭕): The text explicitly states that his exoneration and release marked the first time such an event occurred in Japanese legal history.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Sakae Menda