Tokyo Officials Apologize for Illegal Investigation of Spray Dryer Company

On June 20th, high-ranking officials from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and the Metropolitan Police Department offered an apology to executives of Ohkawara Kakohki Co. This apology stemmed from an investigation that a high court later deemed illegal. The company manufactures spray dryers.

The apology was delivered by Hirohide Mori, representing the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, and Tetsuro Kamata, deputy superintendent-general of the Metropolitan Police Department. The meeting, held at Ohkawara Kakohki Co.'s Yokohama headquarters, began with a portion open to the media.

Kamata expressed remorse for the psychological distress caused to Masaaki Okawara, the company president, and Junji Shimada, a former executive. Mori apologized for the prosecutors' actions in requesting indictments and detaining the individuals. A third person who was indicted passed away before their name could be cleared.

Okawara expressed that the apology should have been offered sooner and emphasized the need for the organizations to prevent similar incidents in the future. However, the meeting was not without its issues, as names were mistakenly used.

The family of the late Shizuo Aishima, a company advisor, declined to attend the meeting, citing the lack of clarity regarding the root cause of the injustice. Tsuyoshi Takada, the lawyer representing the company officials, informed reporters about the closed portion of the meeting.

Takada stated that an apology was offered on behalf of Takako Tsukabe, the prosecutor who led the case. Tsukabe acknowledged that more care should have been taken before indictments were issued. However, during the lawsuit, Tsukabe maintained that she would have made the same decision and believed no error had occurred.

The case involved the 2020 arrest and indictment of Okawara and his colleagues on suspicion of violating the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law. They were accused of exporting spray-drying machines without the necessary licenses. The equipment was alleged to be capable of military use.

The charges were dropped in 2021 when prosecutors realized the plaintiffs were likely correct in their claim that the equipment was not subject to export restrictions. In May, the Tokyo High Court increased the compensation ordered for the police and prosecutors and ruled the investigation illegal due to the lack of a rational basis for the arrests and indictments.