No executions carried out in Japan for over 2 years

Time to put to work that good old gallows..

Good! I am against any state having the power to kill its own citizens.

Now exonerate all of the existing inmates so they can stop living in fear.

Person who subject to execution, will wait for years only to find out the time of execution during the morning of execution day.

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/30/world/secrecy-of-japan-s-executions-is-criticized-as-unduly-cruel.html

https://metro.co.uk/2024/03/16/japan-executes-worst-criminals-secretive-death-penalty-chamber-20476708/

Those people who subject to death penalty are not necessary guilty. They might confess because Japan's hostage justice system.

https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/05/25/japans-hostage-justice-system/denial-bail-coerced-confessions-and-lack-access

It's a waste of tax payers money keeping these evil people alive

Person who subject to execution, will wait for years only to find out the time of execution during the morning of execution day.

If you kill multiple people you deserve to live in fear

carpslidyToday 07:09 am JST

If you kill multiple people you deserve to live in fear

Why not just say you deserve to be tortured and dispense with any window dressing of civilization?

I did not know hanging by the neck until zero pulse was the Japanese method of the death penalty. Seems like the most human. If I had a choice I be ticking the hanging box. Really it should be a Lucky dip where the prisoner place his hand inside a bag and pick out a tag with the method of death. Then open it up to online gambling sites to bet on the lucky dip results and with the government taxes made should put back into the make a better corrections programs.

I do not support the death penalty. But to compare, Indonesia probably has one of the most humane methods: death by firing squad. The US probably has the most inhumane method by means of “botched” lethal injections. Japan is in the middle but the psychological torture of uncertainty beforehand for the inmates and their family seems unnecessary.

"...while 80.8 percent said its existence "could not be helped."

Sending someone to their death, an irrevocable act despite there being no way ever to be 100% certain of their guilt, because it's shouganai? How apathetic and appalling. Come on Japan, capital punishment is inhumane, is not justice, and is not a deterrent, especially in this society and culture. Time to leave it in your past...

The most recent execution in Japan was carried out on July 26, 2022, when 39-year-old Tomohiro Kato was hanged following his conviction over a 2008 rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara district in which seven people were killed and 10 others were injured

Deserved it.

Masumi Hayashi

This one is a sociopathic mass murderer. Give her the rope as well.

Every one of the Aum cult got exactly what they deserved.

Now exonerate all of the existing inmates so they can stop living in fear.

Abolishing the death penalty and just forgiving all prisoners currently condemned to it are two completely different things.

It's a waste of tax payers money keeping these evil people alive

That would not be true, the expense is minimal especially considering it upholds a civilized take on human life and the government being congruent with the position that killing someone for convenience (or plain revenge) is not something society should promote.

Johnsan above ....the death by hanging is not a form of strangulation.

The DROP from the trapdoor, with noose attached, SNAPS a person's neck/spine and death is instantaneous .

Except when it goes wrong.

Sometimes the head comes off.

{I believe that happened to Saddam Hussein }

The problem with any death sentence is that Japanese Courts, which follow the Prosecutor like a puppy dog , are not independent administrators of Justice.

So, they get it wrong...a lot probably.

And the death sentence is not a deterrent ....many studies have shown that.

good it is barbaric and should be abolish by all "civilize" country.

And the death sentence is not a deterrent ....many studies have shown that.

Well it seems to work pretty well for Japan - one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

For the most heinous of crimes, the worst of the worst - the terrorist attacks we saw in Japan in the 90s, murders of children, mass murders - the perpetrator has forfeited their rights to be (expensively) kept alive. They are never mourned nor missed.

Lots of people seem very bloodthirsty, an eye for an eye as they say in the Bible. Well, them days are well long ago and we now know many things like mental illness and we have learned to be better than those who have done bad things. Even the worstest ones should be locked up and not killed. Punishment is loss of liberties and rights, not death as well

The whole "justice" system needs reworking. Forced confessions. No lawyer present. Interrogations should be recorded and lawyer consultation allowed.

And the death sentence is not a deterrent ....many studies have shown that.

It is an excellent deterrent to re-offending. !00% effective.

Good! I am against any state having the power to kill its own citizens.

This is the most cogent argument of all against the death penalty which is the terrorist weapon of choice for dictators and fascist and authoritarian states. As a corollary, for die-hard fans of executions, the death penalty might still be usefully employed as a deterrent to dispose of dictators and the usual enemies of democracy and freedom, sundry corrupt fascist and authoritarian government officials, especially the mass murderers who start wars which can result in the deaths of millions of innocents. Their names are known to us all as they wear their guilt brazenly on their sleeves.

Lots of people seem very bloodthirsty, an eye for an eye as they say in the Bible. Well, them days are well long ago and we now know many things like mental illness and we have learned to be better than those who have done bad things. Even the worstest ones should be locked up and not killed. Punishment is loss of liberties and rights, not death as well

I am afraid that most of the audience here are not mature enough to understand this.

I have no problem with the execution of those who are guilty of crimes that deserve it.

However, I do not think that the execution of a single innocent person justifies execution of the punishment against everyone who deserves it.

Unfortunately, humans are fallible, and it is impossible to have capital punishment without occasionally executing an innocent person who was mistakenly found guilty.

And that cost is just too high. One cannot support capital punishment without acknowledging that innocents will also be executed. I cannot accept that moral responsibility, for the deaths of the innocently executed, so I cannot support capital punishment.

It's very obvious why more than half of the world justice systems do not authorize the death penalty simply bcz.

It Doesn't accomplish anything nor DETER.

Well it seems to work pretty well for Japan - one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

When only one in ten deaths are autopsied, it's easy to say the murder rate is low.

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/autopsy-rate?tab=chart&country=~JPN

The issue is less about the death penalty, but about dangerous criminals who are sentenced to life and released and commit very serious crimes again.

If you abolish the death penalty, you have to insist that life must be life. No parole possible.

Not in favour of death penalty and the torture of not knowing when and the isolation from family which also tortures the family in many cases is wrong. The job of a justice system should be to punish and then rehabilitate not to torture. It's about justice, not revenge.

One person -- just one person -- who is innocent but is put to death is blood on society's hands. As a member of society, I'd rather not have the blood on my hands, as everyone in the society would. You can't give back a life. All that can be done is: "Here, kid. A million bucks. Sorry we killed your dad".

As for cost of keeping a prisoner, it would take about one 5th of each prisoner incarcerated to be put to death to make any appreciable difference in cost.

Oh, there are times I'd LOVE to kill someone; but that's only a fleeting fantasy.

I would rather look at my face in the mirror and like it rather than to not.

I forgot to mention in my post above: go see "I Want To Live", a Susan Heywood movie, a true story. If you can watch that and not be moved, you are not fully human.

GuruMickToday 08:54 am JST

...And the death sentence is not a deterrent ....many studies have shown that.

You can say exactly the same about every prison sentence, there are a lot of repeat offenders.

Many studies, to use your own words, have shown that prison is not a deterrent for hardened criminals. After their release they commit serious crimes again and again.

So what to do? To close all prisons and to release all inmates? Even those who are sentenced to life instead of facing a death sentence?

The point is about that ordinary honest citizens have a right to feel safe, who cares about the victims of crimes?

Just a bit of thinking out loud:

The complex arguments for and against capital punishment notwithstanding, we could argue that there's a logic - a rather vicious logic, for sure - to Japan's thinking.

If you have committed the absolute worst type of crime, and if there is no doubt of your guilt (i.e. you were caught in the act, there is DNA evidence, etc.), then why shouldn't you have to live knowing that it may be your last day in the world? You will never be able to relax once, hoping that an appeal might come through, that someone may grant clemency, that you may live decades longer while the paperwork piles up.

If you're going to take the "revenge" option against a person, then might as well take it all the way.

It's not nice, but it's arguably philosophically consistent.

112 countries no longer execute people, including 18 American States.

As more than half of Japanese people support the death penalty and there is no alternative, I think it's best to keep it this way for the time being.

Making it a life sentence won't lead to a lower crime rate.

If autopsies are insufficient, we can just increase the number of coroners, but that's not a reason to abolish the death penalty. The fact is that criminals are being overlooked.

There is only discussion of the rights of the perpetrator, and no discussion at all of the rights of the victim.

If you kill someone, don't the family of the murdered person want the death penalty?

As long as a certain number of people want the death penalty, we shouldn't abolish it at this point.

And one more thing.

If a country without the death penalty is considered civilized, then perpetrators should also have the right to a trial.

I think a country governed by law should not shoot people at the scene, but rather catch them and have them stand trial.

Police officers are also victims, so they want people to surrender easily if possible,

which is why they say, "We don't have the death penalty, so just surrender yourself. Prison is comfortable." The scale and number of violent crimes are on a completely different level.

And so are the number of unsolved cases.

Don't manipulate people's impressions with weird comparisons between Japan and other countries, and countries that fire guns all over the place.

@VirusRex: killing someone for convenience (or plain revenge) is not something society should promote.

I agree, well said.

You’re WAAAY, behind. Need to make up for it all in a week or two

Don't manipulate people's impressions with weird comparisons between Japan and other countries,

Bingo !

Attempting to compare Japan to any other country is futile anyway

Don't even bother trying to compare Japan

Yohan, while I respect your comment, I have to say in my experience ,in Australia at least, those comments are wrong.

Murderers rarely re commit murder on release.

Drug addict offenders, who have addressed their addiction, stop robbing banks.

White collar crims....ah the less said about them the better.

The population of prisons is overweighted with people with crap family history, poor literacy and low employment skills.

Ages usually under 40 years.

The idea of a "criminal masterclass " is fiction.

And the less said about "revenge " and "vengeance " determining sentences, the better.

wallaceToday 12:05 pm JST

112 countries no longer execute people, including 18 American States.

This is the worst scenario of justice. Depending where you live in your own country, you might be executed or not for identical crimes. With such a legal system like in the States, can you imagine if you live in Kanto area, no death penalty, and in Kansai you can be hanged. It should be either - or. Same laws should apply to all citizens regardless where they are living within the same country.

Article 36 of the Japanese Constitution states: The infliction of torture by any public officer and cruel punishments are absolutely forbidden.

In my opinion capital punishment is unconstitutional!

Good! I am against any state having the power to kill its own citizens.

The reason Japan has a high level of safety is because of this.

Yohan

America is a republic of states.

This is the worst scenario of justice. Depending where you live in your own country, you might be executed or not for identical crimes. With such a legal system like in the States, can you imagine if you live in Kanto area, no death penalty, and in Kansai you can be hanged. It should be either - or. Same laws should apply to all citizens regardless where they are living within the same country.

That's not how laws work in much of the world. Many nations are Federations which have separate laws for each state or province - Australia, Canada, Germany, the US and many more.

Japan is a unitary state.

The reason Japan has a high level of safety is because of this.

With that kind of logic, can you explain why most states in the US that have the death penalty have higher rates of murder?

Or can you explain why Venezuela has a high murder rate? Or SA? Both have no death penalty.

toraToday 06:15 pm JST

The reason Japan has a high level of safety is because of this.

With that kind of logic, can you explain why most states in the US that have the death penalty have higher rates of murder?

Or can you explain why Venezuela has a high murder rate? Or SA? Both have no death penalty.

It is difficult to compare Japan with Venezuela, South Africa and USA.

I think it makes more sense to compare Japan with other Asian countries nearby, like China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore etc. - Many of them have the death penalty in their laws for various crimes, including drug abuse.

Fighto!Today  08:59 am JST

Well it seems to work pretty well for Japan - one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

For the most heinous of crimes, the worst of the worst - the terrorist attacks we saw in Japan in the 90s, murders of children, mass murders - the perpetrator has forfeited their rights to be (expensively) kept alive. They are never mourned nor missed.

The low murder rate in Japan is more likely due to culture and demographics not the fear of being executed. Many murderers and serial killers have some type of mental illness. Knowing that they can be executed is hardly going to stop them. They don't care. In fact, they may want to be executed in some cases. Either way, it's not going to deter them.

Statistically it's been shown that capital punishment doesn't deter, prevent, or lower murder rates.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evidence-does-not-support-the-use-of-the-death-penalty/

Its a good thing

I always wonder how many deaths have occurred because of the death penalty. Some murders are committed because the perpetrator wants the death penalty. The death penalty incentivises murder.

Fighto

Well it seems to work pretty well for Japan - one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

No, no, no!

The fear of execution is not what keeps Japan murder rate so low.

What an absolutely ridiculous assertion!

Think an excellent education system, group-orientation, inclination towards harmony, high self-control, extremely strict gun laws, the stigma of arrest for any crime, and the growth of affluence without the accompanying concentrations of poverty.

If you believe in freedom and liberty and are against big government there is no possible avenue for you to support the death penalty.

A government should never have a way to execute its citizens. The is the biggest form of big government.

So how many have re-offended after execution?

It is not about deterrent. It is the ultimate punishment. They have crossed a line, they are no longer members of society. They took life, they lose life.

What if we make a mistake?

What is we make a mistake and imprison someone for 30 years, 10 years or just give them a fine for bad parking they didn't do?

Should we just ask then so say sorry, cross their hearts and let them go?

Or should we think a little more about the victims and their families?

If anyone murders a member of my family I want them gone. And yse, I would be more than happy to pull the trap door, pull the trigger or swing a hammer.

The usual liberal nonsense -- just get on with it and free up the cells.

So how many have re-offended after execution?

It is not about deterrent. It is the ultimate punishment. They have crossed a line, they are no longer members of society. They took life, they lose life. 

What if we make a mistake? 

Then you have murdered an innocent person.

No small thing. Unforgivable.

If anyone murders a member of my family I want them gone. And yse, I would be more than happy to pull the trap door, pull the trigger or swing a hammer.

Heard that one before. Very Daily Mail letters page but you wonder how many could actually do it.

The usual liberal nonsense -- just get on with it and free up the cells

Yawn. Is it ‘woke’?

Tell us about virtue signaling again.

Mr. Kipling

They took life, they lose life.

Why? Explain the logic in that. Hopefully without quoting from the Old Testament...

What if we make a mistake? What is we make a mistake and imprison someone for 30 years, 10 years or just give them a fine for bad parking they didn't do? Should we just ask then so say sorry, cross their hearts and let them go?

Exactly. This happens all the time, but the government and society does what it can to monetarily compensate the unjustly incarcerated person for their wrongful conviction. Money can't make up for the lost years of their life but at least its something towards making the individual whole. We can't really do that when you've wrongfully executed them can we?

Or should we think a little more about the victims and their families?

How does taking another life benefit the victim, their families, or society at large? Justice is for the victim, not their families, and the victim is dead and their death can't be undone. If you think the death penalty is for the families, friends, or anyone else, then you're in it for vengeance, not justice.

If anyone murders a member of my family I want them gone. And yse, I would be more than happy to pull the trap door, pull the trigger or swing a hammer.

You should try thinking with something other than the most primitive part of your brain.

If anyone murders a member of my family I want them gone.

I think most of us would feel the same. But is that not a reason for not having capital punishment? Understandable anger, but probably also a mist covering exactly what happened.

When I explained being "hung, drawn, and quartered", they said, "You win."

Sounds good to me, but the liberals would object.

Understandable anger, but probably also a mist covering exactly what happened.

and then after the execution you find out the accused was innocent... yeah screw living with that guilt.

"Three death-row prisoners sought an injunction against the hanging method in 2022, calling it "cruel".

Critics have argued that hanging is prone to botched executions and makes for a long, agonising death."

Isn't cruelty the point? It's supposed to be a deterrent, after all.

I think those who advocate the cruellest punishments should possibly be eligible for them if they commit crimes. We often find that those most for lor'an'order end up being the most corrupt, venal, anti-social and hypocritical (same with so many religious leaders). Maybe we should all put on record the kind of society we desire, including our desired punishment for transgressors, so that this might contribute to our own fate in time. Some will die medievally, or be tortured or multlated and it should be fine by them. But I suspect they will try to use "soft" liberal ethics to avoid their fate, especially if they are a victim of the judicial mistakes they are typically happy to ignore while pushing their agenda.

I think those who advocate the cruelest punishments should possibly be eligible for them if they commit crimes.

My conscience is clean. I don't have anything to worry about (apart from an overdue library book c. 1978 -- I paid the fine).

Mr KiplingAug. 13 09:27 pm JST

So how many have re-offended after execution?

How many have re-offended after life in prison?

It is not about deterrent. It is the ultimate punishment. They have crossed a line, they are no longer members of society. They took life, they lose life.

Some of us don't believe in biblical barbarism.

What if we make a mistake?

Easy to correct if you haven't offed the person.

What is we make a mistake and imprison someone for 30 years, 10 years or just give them a fine for bad parking they didn't do?

They are released for the remainder of their life and possibly compensated.

Or should we think a little more about the victims and their families?

If anyone murders a member of my family I want them gone. And yse, I would be more than happy to pull the trap door, pull the trigger or swing a hammer.

Criminal law is not there for you. It is there to keep people safe and for the country to not have a completely crap human rights image.

Taiwan..."criminal law is not there for you..."

Well said...a clever observation.

Although some countries DO involve the victim and family on decisions, including whether to impose death sentence.

Mainly Muslim countries I believe.

Gives victims a chance to show "mercy ", in accordance with the Koran.

It’s likely we all agree it’s immoral to take the life of another human being, worse if that life is taken in cold blood. Why do we think it’s acceptable for the state to exact revenge in this way? And in my opinion the way Japan does it on the short notice whim of the justice minister is inhumane.

Given the number of errors and miscarriages of justice, it’s a mistake to give the government the authority to end life purely as an act of revenge.

The death sentence is an unlikely deterrent given that most killings are unplanned. Even those that are planned are often committed by people who have lost their grip on reality.

In states with a decent justice system, the death penalty doesn’t save money. Murder cases are never straightforward. They take a huge amount of resources with pre trial investigations, the trial itself, multiple appeals, death row facilities etc.

The point of a criminal justice system is to protect the public by stopping further offending and punishing the perpetrators. Putting people to death might feed a base desire for revenge but it can’t bring the victim back or take away the families grief. The deliberate taking of human life degrades us all, allowing the state to do it for us abrogates our collective responsibility to that life. Punishment yes, state sponsored killing, no thanks.

Why does the state kill people? Because the state is the one that judges the perpetrators on behalf of the victims.

If we leave it to the victims to take revenge, murders will never end. The state has a role to play in preventing revenge by executing on behalf of the victim.

If the wrong person is executed, the responsibility is the problem of the state that investigated, arrested, and executed, and it is not the victim's responsibility. The victim has no right to investigate or arrest.

If we deny that, the victim should be given the right to kill the perpetrator. In the first place, even if we abolish the death penalty, there is no country that will be safer than Japan, which has the death penalty. It will not improve public safety in Japan, nor will it join the EU.

Even the trial of Aum Shinrikyo took 20 years to be carried out. The public was satisfied with the resulting verdict, and there has been no criticism of the executions. Trust in the judicial system varies from country to country, so the death penalty should not be adopted in an untrustworthy country like China.

Agent_NeoToday 02:43 am JST

Why does the state kill people? Because the state is the one that judges the perpetrators on behalf of the victims.

It's supposed to be acting on behalf of society, not just a few individuals.

If we deny that, the victim should be given the right to kill the perpetrator.

Why though? If someone is killed or injured in traffic accident, we don't say the driver at fault should be maimed or executed. Life in prison is pretty horrific, especially Japanese ones, as I understand things.

Even the trial of Aum Shinrikyo took 20 years to be carried out. The public was satisfied with the resulting verdict, and there has been no criticism of the executions.

Then there is work to do to increase the interest the population has in human rights of all people.

Agent_Neo

If the wrong person is executed, the responsibility is the problem of the state that investigated, arrested, and executed, and it is not the victim's responsibility. The victim has no right to investigate or arrest.

If we deny that, the victim should be given the right to kill the perpetrator.

That's an inexcusable leap of logic.