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| Death Row in Japanese Prison |
A desire to depict 1 man spending half a century in solitary confinement on death row is what spurred Junichi Saito, 45, to write his 1st movie script.
Saito's upcoming film, which translates as "Promise, The Nabari Poisoned Wine Case, the Life of a Death Row Inmate," has as its main character Masaru Okunishi, 87, a man who after being found not guilty in his 1st trial was then given the death penalty over a deadly 1961 wine-poisoning case in Nabari, Mie Prefecture. A decision for a retrial was temporarily granted but then turned down, and the case is even now under review for retrial.
After finishing the film, Saito looks back and says, "I am sure it is a false conviction, so I will continue pursuing the case."
Saito had previously created three documentaries after poring over massive amounts of documents and interviewing people, but he was not able to freely interview Okunishi, as Japan only allows relatives and other close people to meet with death row inmates.
"It was very frustrating making TV programs where I could not interview the main character. I felt there were limits (to the amount of accurate information I could get) and opted to make a dramatic interpretation (rather than a documentary)," says Saito. For the main role he chose Tatsuya Nakadai, who gave narration in his previous works.
Saito originally is from the television business, entering Tokai Television Broadcasting Ltd. in 1992. Though he says he just became a reporter on impulse, one lawyer he has interviewed praised him, saying, "He keeps pushing for the truth until he's satisfied."
Saito became director of the station's news department in 2005 and began researching the Nabari case. He doubts whether the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" is being practiced there.
Last year, he was given the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association's top award for a documentary on Yoshihiro Yasuda, a lawyer who was involved with 2 controversial death penalty cases and is known for his disdain of the media.
Source: The Mainichi, Feb. 16, 2013
