Iwao Hakamata

Iwao Hakamata
Hakamata in 2022
Born (1936-03-10) 10 March 1936
Statistics
Weight(s)Featherweight
Boxing record
Total fights29
Wins16
Wins by KO1
Losses11
Draws2

Iwao Hakamata (Japanese: 袴田 巖, Hepburn: Hakamata Iwao; born 10 March 1936) is a Japanese former professional boxer who was sentenced to death on 11 September 1968 for a 1966 mass murder that became known as the Hakamata Incident. Hakamata's time on death row is the longest of any prisoner in the world.

In March 2014, he was granted a retrial and an immediate release when the Shizuoka District Court found there was reason to believe evidence against him had been falsified. In September 2024, Hakamata was acquitted in a retrial by the Shizuoka District Court. Hakamata's innocence was confirmed in October 2024, when the prosecution waived its right to appeal. In 2025 a court awarded him 217,362,500 yen, 12,500 yen (US$83) for each day of imprisonment.