Hiroyasu Ichikawa, a writer and editor for socialcompany.org, a Japanese social entrepreneurship platform echoed that thought.

FORBES: Amid Japan's Earthquake, Entrepreneurship

For Ichikawa, it didn't matter if it was true or false as long as he had the confession.

BBC: Japan crime: Why do innocent people confess?

Hiroshi Ichikawa was a prosecutor for nearly 13 years - until he lost his job for threatening to kill a suspect during an interrogation.

BBC: Japan crime: Why do innocent people confess?

An engineer by training, the 51-year-old got his start in politics by managing the 1974 Upper House campaign of the late Fusae Ichikawa, Japan's leading feminist politician who championed equality of the sexes, shunned political parties and aided the fight against corruption.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia