time. Ishikawa said he had asked "Where is the house of Mr. Eisaku Nakata?" to a farmer who lived nearby, when he was delivering the ransom note to Nakata's house. Eisaku was the father of Nakata. When the police put Ishikawa in a lineup, the farmer testified that the man who asked the place was "for sure" Ishikawa. Ishikawa said he saw a car parked near Nakata's house, when he was delivering the ransom note to Nakata's house. The police found that a fertilizer merchant had parked a compact van there around the same time. The dead body of Nakata was bound with a towel and a hand towel. The former was privately distributed by Tsukishima Foods Industry Co., Ltd. The latter was distributed by Isoko Beikokuten, a rice store. Ishikawa was one of the few people who could get both of them. During the attempted transfer of the ransom, the older sister of Nakata and the ex-military policeman heard the voice of the kidnapper. Both of them testified that that was Ishikawa's voice. At first, Ishikawa insisted that he was working with his older brother near his home all day long. Later on, the police found that his alibi was a lie. Evidence in favor of Ishikawa's innocence Ishikawa's supporters claim that the confession upon which the courts’ decisions are based was coerced. Ishikawa's supporters claim he could not have written the ransom note that was delivered to Nakata's family. Like other Buraku people of his generation, he came from an impoverished background and, as a result, he was not well educated. At the time of his arrest, he was 24 years old, lacked even an elementary school education, and was illiterate. The ransom note that was delivered to Nakata's house, however, contained many Chinese characters and was written by a person accustomed to writing. The courts maintain that Ishikawa could have copied the Chinese characters out of a magazine, but analysts have testified that the handwriting is clearly that of a different person. There is also no evidence of Ishikawa's fingerprints on the ransom note or on the envelope it was in. Ishikawa's supporters claim the court has based much of its decision on the fact that Nakata's pen was found at Ishikawa's house. However, this fountain pen was not discovered until the third search of his residence. On May 23, the day Ishikawa was arrested, the police