What Kozo Iizuka’s Wife Told Him Just Before His Imprisonment in the Ikebukuro Runaway “Senior Citizen” Case

The year 2009 is almost over. Kozo Iizuka, 90, was one of the people who drew a lot of attention from all over Japan this year.

As you know, Mr. Iizuka was criticized as a “senior citizen” after he caused a runaway accident in Ikebukuro in April 2007. He was found guilty of violating the Automobile Driving Punishment Law (manslaughter) and was sentenced to five years in prison on September 2, 2007. Mr. Iizuka did not appeal and the sentence became final. For a while, there were some who thought that he would not be imprisoned due to his health problems, but this changed and he was imprisoned on October 12.

Regarding the situation before his incarceration, Iizuka’s supporters, NPO World Open Heart Kyoko Abe, the representative of the NPO World Open Heart, who has been supporting Iizuka, talks about the situation before his imprisonment.

She said, “Shortly before I was imprisoned, my legs were getting worse. I couldn’t walk by myself, and I was falling down a lot even in my room. I began to live in a wheelchair on a daily basis.”

In late September, just before Mr. Iizuka’s imprisonment, this magazine interviewed his wife, Mrs. A. Mrs. A came out of her apartment with an eco-bag in her hand. She was elderly, but her steps were light and she seemed to be going shopping.

–I’d like to talk to you.

I have nothing to say to you.

–Are both Mr. and Mrs. Iizuka in good health?

I’m fine, but… Well, not really. I’m already 90 years old.

–I thought your wife was in good health.

She’s barely walking.

–Have you and your wife discussed the decision not to appeal the case?

We haven’t talked about it.

–So you and your wife haven’t talked about it?

No.

–If you have some feelings about it, you should say what you have to say, don’t you think?

It’s okay, we’re done.

–No matter what they say?

I’m a nonresistant person.

After finishing her shopping at the dry cleaners and supermarket, Ms. A went back to her apartment.

The above-mentioned Mr. Abe spoke.

Even after his incarceration, I continue to support him. We tell his family how to visit him in prison and provide them with the detailed rules and regulations of the prison. I think he will continue to live in a wheelchair in prison.

Takuya Matsunaga, a bereaved family member of the victim, once told this magazine.

Takuya Matsunaga, a bereaved family member of the victim, once told this magazine, “Even if the verdict is finalized, it doesn’t mean that the lives of the two victims will be restored or that the daily life of the three of us will return. That’s the first thing that makes me feel helpless.

It is true that Mr. Iizuka’s imprisonment has brought closure to the case. However, the traces left by this case are too deep.