Lawyers and Power (2 Volumes)

Japan's conviction rate in criminal cases is 99.9%, meaning only 1 out of every 1,000 criminal cases results in an acquittal. The 99.9% proudly boasted by Japanese prosecutors precisely reflects the arrogance of the prosecutorial authorities, who represent the power of the state: they do not prosecute without absolute certainty, and once they prosecute, they will go to great lengths to win. Against this backdrop, Junichiro Hironaka has successfully defended defendants and achieved acquittals in numerous high-profile cases that have made headlines in Japan and are significant enough to be recorded in the history of post-war Japanese criminal litigation, earning him the title of "the Acquittal Man." As one of Japan's top criminal lawyers, his career itself is a microcosm of half a century of the Japanese criminal justice system.