In late November last year, Iwao Takasu, 55, became one of the first six people in Ibaraki Prefecture to serve as a lay judge in a criminal trial.
Including three professional judges, the nine-member panel at the Mito District Court tried a 45-year-old man who had admitted to groping the breasts of a 16-year-old high school girl and injuring her hand by pushing her down. After hearing all of the evidence and deliberating thoroughly, they handed the man a suspended five-year prison term and ordered supervision by a probation officer.
Feeling a sense of accomplishment, Takasu thought he could put the experience behind and return to his normal life. But that wasn't the case.