In Japan, false accusations can have far-reaching consequences, with little chance for wrongly accused individuals to defend themselves.
Ohkawara Kakohki, a manufacturer of spray dryers based in Yokohama, attracted police attention in late 2018 due to suspicions that their products might be used in the development of biological weapons, and that they were involved in illegal exports without the required permit.
Despite conducting multiple experiments to demonstrate the safety of their products to the police, Masaaki Okawara and two other executives of the firm — Junji Shimada and Shizuo Aishima — were arrested in March 2020.