40 Years on Death Row Mr Masaru Okunishi 7th Appeal Rejected by Nagoya Japan Court

Saturday, May 26, 2012

All for naught: Supporters of an 86-year-old man who has been on death row 40 years are stunned after the Nagoya High Court rejected his retrial appeal Friday over his conviction of fatally poisoning five women in 1961 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture. KYODO

At first cleared, 40-year death-row inmate loses anew

Confession retracted but stands for killer, 86

Kyodo

NAGOYA — The Nagoya High Court rejected a retrial appeal Friday of an 86-year-old man who has been on death row for four decades for the fatal poisoning of five women in 1961 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, ruling his retracted confession made under initial grillings remains "basically trustworthy."

Masaru Okunishi

Even though Masaru Okunishi was initially acquitted and the high court in 2005 opted to reopen the case, presiding Judge Yasuo Shimoyama said Friday, "It is unquestionable that only Okunishi could have mixed pesticide into the wine" that poisoned the victims.

Okunishi's confession, made when he was under interrogation, "is basically trustworthy," Shimoyama added.

The defense counsel will file a special interlocutory appeal with the Supreme Court.

The high-profile case involves the poisoning of 17 women on March 28, 1961, at a community meeting in Nabari. Five of the women, including Okunishi's wife, died, and 12 fell sick.

Okunishi confessed to investigators that he had laced the wine with an agricultural chemical to resolve a love triangle involving himself, his wife and his girlfriend, but retracted his confession before being indicted.

Protesting his innocence, Okunishi was initially acquitted by the Tsu District Court in 1964 on grounds of insufficient evidence, but the Nagoya High Court overturned that ruling and sentenced him to hang in 1969. The Supreme Court finalized the verdict in 1972.

Okunishi subsequently filed seven petitions for a retrial, finally leading the high court to reopen the case in 2005. But another presiding judge at that court nullified the decision in response to an objection filed by prosecutors.

After the appeal by Okunishi's counsel, the Supreme Court turned the case back to the high court in 2010, arguing it should examine the toxic substance used in the crime more scientifically.

In the latest deliberation, the defense submitted new evidence to the high court, claiming the type of pesticide used in the crime was different from the one Okunishi had confessed to using. It argued that a characteristic component of the substance was not detected in the wine.

Shimoyama rejected the argument, however, saying that the defense failed to prove the pesticide Okunishi had claimed to have used was different from the one actually used.

Okunishi told one of his lawyers at the Nagoya Detention House on Friday that he regretted the high court decision but said he is confident of winning at the final stage and called for continued support.

Osamu Watanabe, a law school professor at Konan University, said Friday the high court should have reopened the case as it has not been scientifically disproven that a different type of pesticide was mixed in the wine.

As long as there remains a possibility that Okunishi was the victim of a miscarriage of justice, the case should be reopened in line with the principle of innocent until proven guilty, he said.

But Takeshi Tsuchimoto, a former prosecutor at the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office and now a professor emeritus at Tsukuba University, called Friday's decision is reasonable.

"The high court determined in a firm voice after examining all the evidence — old and new — that Okunishi is (definitely) the real culprit," he said.

Mental Health in Japan

What You Should Know About Mental Health in Japan and How to Find Help [Podcast Interview]

 

As expats, sometimes life can get stressful. Really stressful. Perhaps to the point of needing help in the form of counseling. But how do you get that kind of help in a foreign country, especially if the country's native language isn't English, or your native language?

I wondered about this myself when I was dealing with a bout of labrynthitis a couple years ago and the doctors kept telling me the reason I felt so bad was due to a mental issue. They were wrong, although I suppose it was technically, "all in my head." However, it got me thinking, what if I ever needed counseling here in Japan? Would I be able to find help? Someone that would understand me and not form opinions based on one culture?

So I sought out answers from an expert: psychotherapist and clinical psychologist Andrew Grimes ofTokyo Counseling Services. We discussed a few different things, including:

 

• The most common psychological issues expats in Japan experience
• How the work culture in Japan affects emotional well-being
• How counseling and psychotherapy are addressed in Japan versus western countries
• How to find an English-speaking counselor if you don't live in Tokyo or another major city
• What you should be aware of when preparing a move to Japan and ways you should prepare, especially if you have a family
• Culture shock, when it happens, what it might look like and how to deal with it
• Why getting out of the "expat bubble" sometimes can be good for your mental/emotional health
• What mental health professionals in Japan have been doing to help the recovery process in Tohoku

 

Today we're doing something a little different with this interview - you'll find it below in audio form rather than text (although hopefully I can get it transcribed eventually). It's my first audio interview, so you'll have to excuse the fact I'm not quite as talented as the Japan podcasters out there, but I think the content in this interview if insightful and worth a listen.

Click here to listen to the interview:

Surviving in Japan: What You Should Know About Mental Health in Japan and How to Find Help (Podcast Interview with Andrew Grimes, Director of Tokyo Counseling Services).

http://www.survivingnjapan.com/2012/05/what-you-should-know-about-mental.html

*******

Please check out Tokyo Counseling Services:

Tokyo Counseling Services
Address: KS Residence, Daizawa 2-30-21, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, Japan. 155-0032
Phone: 03-5431-3096
Fax: 03-5431-3097
Email: tokyocounselingservices@gmail.com

Bereaved family of Fukushima woman who committed suicide to sue TEPCO

FUKUSHIMA -- Mikio Watanabe, 61, and his family are poised to file a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on May 18 demanding about 72.5 million yen in compensation for his wife's suicide soon after the outbreak of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, it has been learned.

Along with three other family members, Mikio Watanabe plans to bring the case to the Fukushima District Court on May 18. Watanabe and his family argue that the Fukushima nuclear disaster led his wife, Hamako, to suffer depression and commit suicide at the age of 58. According to a group of lawyers supporting victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it will be the first lawsuit to be filed over suicides related to the nuclear crisis.

According to the group of lawyers, on the morning of July 1, 2011 Hamako committed suicide by pouring gasoline over her body and setting herself on fire at a garbage incinerator near her house, to which she made a temporary visit with Mikio from their apartment that the local government had rented for them in the city of Fukushima.

The couple had taken shelter at their relatives' homes and gymnasiums in Fukushima Prefecture since March 15, 2011. They then returned to their home once, but because the Yamakiya district, about 40 kilometers northwest of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, where their home was located, was designated as a planned evacuation zone in April last year, they moved to the rented apartment in the city of Fukushima in June after a few months of waiting.

During this period, Hamako's place of work was closed down and she had to live apart from her 37-year-old eldest son and other relatives, and she started to show symptoms of insomnia and had a poor appetite. The group of lawyers says, "Because she was deprived of the basics of life such as her residence and job, she suffered an extremely heavy psychological burden." Thus the group of lawyers says that's why she started to develop depression. Therefore, they argue that there are causal relations between the nuclear disaster and her depression and her suicide.

Her husband, Mikio, said, "The accident changed everything in our lives. I decided to go to court because I thought no more victims should cry themselves to sleep."

On the planned lawsuit, an official of the public relations department at TEPCO only said, "We are not aware of it. Therefore we would like to decline comment."

May 10, 2012(Mainichi Japan)

Click here for the original Japanese story

 

 

Health Labor & Welfare Ministry proposed mental health test draws criticism from experts

Labor ministry's proposed mental health test draws criticism from experts

A law amendment being promoted by the health ministry that would require workers to undergo a standardized mental health test with very little scientific backing is attracting criticism from mental health experts.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare submitted the draft revision to the Industrial Health and Safety Law to the Diet late last year. While the Diet has yet to engage in full-fledged debate on the issue, if the proposal is passed, employers would be legally bound to provide a specified mental health test to its employees in addition to regular health examinations.

In the test, the health ministry has identified nine symptoms such as "I'm extremely tired" and "I feel melancholy," on which workers would be asked to rate themselves on a four-level scale. The results of the test would not be revealed to employers without the employees' consent, and if necessary, test takers would be interviewed by a doctor.

The ministry maintains that the purpose of the standardized test is the early detection of people with high levels of stress, as part of its efforts to reduce suicides and depression.

However, Norito Kawakami, a professor of mental health at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Medicine, says, "People with high levels of stress are not necessarily at the highest risk for depression. Of those who are determined to be 'depressed' according to mental health tests that are currently used in the private sector, 5 to 20 percent of people are actually diagnosed with depression." Moreover, there have been no studies to show that looking into the nine items proposed for the test leads to the prevention of depression or suicide.

According to the health ministry's calculations, the cost of testing, which includes an interview with a doctor, comes out to 350 yen per person. Approximately 30 million workers would be subject to the test, and if implemented, the tests would cost business operators a total of 10.5 billion yen.

"It's wasteful to put money into a system whose efficacy has yet to be proven," Kawakami says.

Meanwhile, Jun Nakamura, a psychiatry professor at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, warns of the confusion that such tests could cause for the medical industry. "If people are mechanically advised to consult psychiatrists based on their test results, it could throw medical facilities into confusion," he says. He adds that workers could be rejected by others in the workplace if tests are implemented before there is more widespread understanding for psychiatric illness, and advocates caution. "It would not be too late to make (a mental health test) mandatory after we obtain evidence from model projects."

Cases of suicide and depression in Japan saw a steep rise beginning in the late 1990s, when it became clear that the Japanese economy was suffering from stagnation. The labor ministry's current anti-depression policy planning began at the behest of former Labor Minister Akira Nagatsuma, who aimed to turn that situation around.

Then Labor Minister Nagatsuma demanded that mental health screening be included in companies' regular health examinations for their employees, which was reflected in a report produced in May 2010 by a ministry project team. An expert panel that was then established met six times in just a month and a half, coming up with a framework for the mental health test.

The then Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan approved a "new growth strategy" for the country that included raising the number of workplaces implementing mental health measures to 100 percent by the year 2020. The initiative in its beginnings appeared to be a largely politician-led one, and one member of the expert panel recalls having the impression that it was a "rash process" in which the conclusion was already decided before the deliberations began.

Asked about the criticisms directed against the proposed mental health test, an official at the labor ministry's Industrial Health Division said, "We obtained the deliberation committee's understanding on the validity (of the test)."

 

Grief

Kaleidoscope of the Heart: Having one's own sanctuary for grief

Rika Kayama

At a recent symposium that I attended, I learned some shocking information from Yasuyuki Shimizu, the head of a suicide prevention nonprofit organization called Lifelink.

Among those who call the group for help, there are many bereaved family members who lost their loved ones to last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami. What was particularly significant for me was that, according to Mr. Shimizu, one year after the disasters, not much has changed for many of those grieving.

The bereaved family members often describe their conditions as "being at a loss as to what to do." The feeling of being completely stumped by how to start to heal their emotional wounds lingers even a year after the disasters.

As I was listening to Mr. Shimizu, part of me was surprised, but part of me also thought that such a state of mind is rather natural. In fact, it is rather impossible to expect people who have lost a loved one to suddenly be healed in a year or so. 

We often hear words along the lines of "The clock has stopped since then," or "Since that day, I haven't moved a single step forward." However, if one comes to think about it, this is a rather normal human response -- and it is not only limited to those who lost a dear one in last year's disasters.

In our lives we are always surrounded by countless possibilities of unexpected personal loss, disease and major failure. When something devastating like this happens to us, we are often told by others to fight on and not give in to it, but the reality is that it always takes time to overcome such incidents.

 

There will be a certain period of time -- sometimes half a year, sometimes a year, or even longer -- when we won't be able to do anything but blankly stare into space. Sometimes it can take years before we once again become aware of the changing seasons.

In my consultation room, I often wonder whether a period of grief should be as short as possible. Whenever we treat patients who have suffered a major shock in their lives, we psychiatrists always tell them the following: "You must have suffered a great deal. However, if you take this medicine, you will feel a bit better. It will shorten the grief period and help you get better soon."

 

 

While this is not a lie per se, that is how we prescribe anti-depressants and other medications, while we sometimes also think that what the person really needs is to embrace the grief and take as much time as he or she needs to deal with the emotional pain.

Unfortunately, however, modern society does not allow people the privilege of a long recovery from a sad and painful event in life. If people tell their employers that they are in need of a half year's leave to recover from a personal loss, they will most likely be recommended to quit their job or see a doctor and do something about it as soon as possible.

 

I sometimes think how wonderful it would be if people had their own "sanctuary for grief" -- a place far away from daily house chores and work, where they can be free to think about their grief as much as they need.

 

Perhaps, at the moment, Lifelink is the closest thing we have to such a place. (By Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)

April 01, 2012(Mainichi Japan)

Click here for the original Japanese story