FUKUSHIMA — Fukushima University is preserving archives related to the notorious Matsukawa case, a fatal train derailment 60 years ago that led to 20 union members being convicted of sabotage in what many regard as the worst miscarriage of justice in postwar Japan.</PARAGRAPH>
<PHOTO>
<TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'>
<TR>
<TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2009/nn20091202f2a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='333'/></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>For the record: Masayuki Ibe –
, a professor emeritus at Fukushima University, poses in front of the
school's Matsukawa case archives. Below: Makoto Suzuki, a defendant in the case first sentenced to death
and then acquitted, is interviewed in November.
KYODO PHOTO
 |
On Aug. 17, 1949, a train came off the tracks near Matsukawa Station in Fukushima Prefecture as a result of apparent sabotage. Several bolts connecting the tracks were loosened, and joint bars and spikes were pulled away.
