Charlie, your wife's murder has come up in discussions like these every now and then on the forum over the years. I always feel — well I can't say "feel" because I could never truly feel it — always think what an awful, devastating tragedy for your children and for you. Especially for you. That you were able to continue on with life for decades, that you were able to continue to be a good father, a good LEO, a good man, is a testament to your character as a human being. The world is better for your presence.
Much respect.
If you mean the legal process in Japan operates on the "We arrested you, so you must be guilty. Now confess" principle, I agree. They start there, and should you not confess, stuff goes downhill pretty sharpish. The comments made by Carlos Ghosn of Nissan fame on his treatment by the Japanese authorities make interesting reading. I seem to recall an interview about it either by AP or BBC news.
I, too, thought Carlos Ghosin was railroaded. I think he likely broke the law by using Nissan funds for personal purposes — like a villa in Brazil, I think it was — but I also think using company funds for personal purposes, while not on Ghosin's scale, perhaps, while illegal is also not that unusual in Japan.
I think other Nissan executives resented him and plotted his downfall.
The Japanese have a proverb: The nail that sticks out will get hammered down, and Ghosin, wildly successful and popular, regarded for many years as the faltering Nissan's savior, stuck out. Also, from what I've read, a very arrogant man and something of a tyrant.
Anyway, I am glad he successfully snuck himself out of Japan. Perhaps because I was foreigner in Japan as well, I felt considerable sympathy for him when he was arrested and held.
The point about the Japanese not having the freedoms we do is quite true, both in law and in custom. But their system works very well for them. (E.g., our per capita murder rate is 14 times higher than theirs.) Like our country, they are a democracy. They collectively choose their way to live.
As we say here, different strokes for different folks.