In the early hours of the 30th June 1966, locals of a small sea-side town south of Tokyo wake up to the wailing sirens of fire brigades and the acrid smoke of a burning house. The fire is extinguished, but a police inspection of the house unearths the charred remains of four brutally stabbed bodies - a mother holding onto her son, a father escaping into the garden, and a daughter alone in her room. News of the quadruple homicide spreads like wildfire.
The victims are the Hashimotos, a family that ran the local miso factory. Suspicion immediately falls upon Iwao Hakamada, a 30-year-old retired boxer who lives and works at the factory. After his arrest, he confesses to the crime and is sentenced to hang.
His sister, Hideko, though, senses something is awry. She forms an alliance of attorneys, boxing legends, and human rights defenders, to re-examine the case in order to free her brother before his execution. However, the team are confronted with a formidable task - only 4 other death row inmates have ever had their convictions overturned in Japan's history, in a criminal justice system that boasts a 99.9% conviction rate.
Word begins to spread about the case, as evidence of foul play emerges. One of the trial judges who found Hakamada guilty makes a startling admission, but it may be too late. By now, it has been close to 40 years since Hakamada was arrested. Confined to a solitary cell, with each waking day spent in gruelling uncertainty, he has been reduced to psychological ruin.
However, despite the odds, Hakamada's defence and his sister persist in their pursuit for justice. New evidence surfaces that confirms long-held suspicions about the case. A decision for a retrial looms but has it come too late? Hakamada is a broken man - a pawn in a justice system that has no room for innocence.
