While plotting is not make or break in cinema, and Kurosawa was a genius writer/director, it bothered me that there obviously was not a body for Wada's funeral, so how was it known he had committed suicide and not simply murdered? This kinda makes the prosecutor appear to be incompetent for plot convenience. What did I miss? Had Nishi supplied a body? What would that say of his morals?
shareWell, they thought he jumped into a volcano right? I'm pretty sure that would have destroyed his body.
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I thought Wada left a suicide note under a rock during the volcano scene.
shareIn that scene there is a sign that reads something like "Japan's unused soil", wich means Wada was in a restricted and/or dangerous area. The authorities might have guessed that his corpse was destroyed completely or partialy enough to grotesque degree (his family would not want to see that, would they?).
Also, it is possible that the funeral was taking place while his body was still being searched, wich would be quite difficult considering he was believebed to jump inside the volcano-like crater.
Not to mention that Iwabuchi probably didn't care about the lost body, since Wada did, in fact, left a suicide note behind and he (Iwabuchi) ordered him to kill himself in the first place.