I just watched a film called “But I didn’t do it!” (それでもやってない），in which a young man is falsely accused of groping a teenage girl on a packed subway train. The protagonist’s private rage and frustration are contrasted with the slow-turning and at times corrupt wheels of Japanese justice. Held in custody during a seven month investigation and trial period, he is repeatedly advised that Japan has a 99.9% conviction rate and that it is thus futile to fight rather than to plea bargain.
As I watched I knew there wouldn’t be an American “bucks the system” happy end. The inevitable verdict of “guilty” is a thudding admonishment to bow to authority as much as it is a punishment for said crime.
In America, it’s the corporation that is portrayed with such arrogance and corruption— remember Silkwood, China Syndrome, Erin Brokovich—while our legal system is still a venue for redemption. I don’t yet know where Japanese find salvation in such moments.