Matsukawa derailment
Together with the Mitaka and Shimoyama incidents, it was one of three major criminal cases involving allegations of sabotage blamed by the government on the Japanese Communist Party and the Japan National Railway Union in the immediate post-war era.[1] Twenty people were arrested and seventeen were convicted in 1953 (four of whom received death sentences), but eventually all were acquitted on appeal,[2][3] and the case was closed without determining the real cause in 1970.Suspicion immediately fell on Japan National Railway Union, workers at the nearby Toshiba-Matsukawa factory and the Japanese Communist Party, due to recent protests over staff cuts.During the first ruling of the Fukushima District Court on December 6, 1950, all twenty defendants were found guilty, largely on the strength of confessions forced by the police during interrogation.Legal proceedings dragged on until 1970, when the defendants were finally awarded compensation from the Japanese government for false arrest and imprisonment.
KanayagawaMatsukawaFukushima PrefectureTōhoku Main LineJapanese National Railwayspassenger trainderailedMitakaShimoyama incidentssabotageJapanese Communist Partydeath sentencesacquittedMitaka incidentJNR Class C51steam locomotiveAomori StationUeno Stationmail carKanayagawa StationMatsukawa Stationrailroad spikessleepersspannerrice paddyToshibaJapan National Railwayconfessionslife imprisonmentappealHirotsu KazuoChuokoronYasunari KawabataNaoya ShigaSaneatsu MushanokojiSeicho MatsumotoEiji YoshikawaSupreme Court of Japanprosecutionfalse arrestSatsuo YamamotoKen UtsuiList of rail accidents (1930–49)List of unsolved murdersRailway accidents in the 1940sTurenki, FinlandLittle Falls, New York, USCuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USNorton Fitzwarren, United KingdomHommelvik, NorwayMeråker, NorwayMontreal, CanadaEccles, United KingdomWodonga, Victoria, AustraliaHyde, New ZealandWayland, New York, USPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, USRennert, North Carolina, USTorre del Bierzo, SpainLondon, United KingdomCatterick Bridge explosionBalvano, ItalySoham, United KingdomStockton, Georgia, USBagley, Utah, USBelfast, Northern Ireland, United KingdomSnåsa, NorwayMichigan, North Dakota, USHertfordshire, United KingdomLichfield, United KingdomBrowney, United KingdomAracaju, BrazilNaperville, Illinois, USSaitama Prefecture, JapanDowners Grove, Illinois, USCamp Mountain, AustraliaDoncaster, United KingdomDugald, Manitoba, CanadaGoswick, United KingdomWinsford, United KingdomTokyo, Japan