Regarding the Dark Side of the Rising Sun column headlined "Is global scrutiny of Japan's justice system fair?" in the Jan. 6 edition, compared with the United States, Japanese authorities are more careful about issuing arrest warrants, which has brought about peculiar investigation methods. As this article points out, given the "hostage justice" system and extremely high conviction rate, Japan's justice system is far from perfect.
These days the authorities have new investigation tools such as plea bargaining and wiretapping, which are prevalent in the U.S. In America they also protect suspects' rights, as represented by the Miranda warning. New investigation tools should be introduced to deal with terrorism and international crime organizations, to be sure, but suspects' rights should also be protected and well-informed.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.