Since defendants plead guilty in 70% of the country's indicted cases, much of the focus will be on sentencing. In Japan, those indicted are almost always found guilty. Japan convicts more than 99% of its criminal cases, compared with 89% in the U.S., statistics show.
"The conviction rate is high here because prosecutors only go after cases that would surely lead to convictions," said Judge Masahiro Hiraki.
The percentage of citizens who do not want to participate in the jury system is almost as high. In an April poll by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, 79.2% of those polled said they did not want to serve on a jury.
Nonetheless, the courts are well prepared for what is to come, Hiraki said. For five years, judges nationwide have been preparing to work with jurors, said Hiraki, councilor general of the criminal affairs bureau at the Supreme Court of Japan.
The training has included 630 mock trials and other public events. In Takahashi's case, it included 80 minutes of deliberations on whether to sentence to jail a disgruntled worker who had committed arson after being laid off.
Whether the new system is ready or not, interest in it is high. TV networks have been airing dramas that involve such trials.
They've also been running Hollywood films with criminal jury scenes, including "A Few Good Men," "Runaway Jury" and "A Time to Kill."
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Nagano is a special correspondent.
