In a move to seek forgiveness and make things right with those that they mistreated, Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi apologized for treating American prisoners of war as slaves during the second World War. Specifically, representatives from the company stood upon a stage before a 94-year-old former POW, gave a deep bow, then held hands with him as they apologized. They indicated that they were sorry for the awful treatment and also apologized for how long it had taken them to apologize.
We speak of justice usually in reference to criminals in the criminal justice realm; how they will be punished or treated after being found guilty of a crime. We can speak of restorative justice; what has the perpetrator done to the victim, and how can they make it right? How can we restore the victim so that they no longer want to punish the perpetrator and they look to the future?
But what about a company that has perpetrated crimes against an individual or collective group? How can they make it right with the people that they have wronged; will making them pay a fine to the government do the trick? Well, some of the POWs say that it wasn't "about money", so fines may not be enough for what these people endured. For them, it was more important that the company recognized the wrong things that hey have done, and making amends for it, through contrition and apologies. That step has gone a long way in making the victims feel better; in the words of the POW who received the bow: "This is a glorious day; for 70 years we wanted this."
So justice in this case was more restorative - where you look toward the future, not toward the past and make the victim able to move forward. That might be more important than in ensuring that the perpetrator is sent to prison forever or has to write a check to their government.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/07/20/mitsubishi-apologizes-for-using-american-pows-as-slaves-during-wwii/
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