Capital punishment in Japan: Difference between revisions

Since 2000, 98 inmates have been executed in Japan,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00239/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101195508/https://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00239/|title=Capital Punishment in Japan|publisher=nippon.com|date=27 July 2022|archive-date=1 January 2023|access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref> with the most recent being the execution of Tomohiro Katō, the perpetrator of the [[Akihabara massacre]] in 2008, who was executed on 26 July 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 July 2022 |title=Assailant in Tokyo's Akihabara fatal rampage executed |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/26/national/crime-legal/tomohiro-kato-akihabara-execution/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728002613/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/26/national/crime-legal/tomohiro-kato-akihabara-execution/ |archive-date=28 Jul 2022 |access-date=26 July 2022 |publisher=Japan Times |lang=en-US}}</ref> There are currently 107 [[death row]] inmates awaiting execution.<ref name="JTE">{{cite web |title=Japan hangs three death-row inmates in first executions since 2019 |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/12/21/national/japan-executions-2019/ |website=The Japan Times |access-date=22 March 2022 |date=21 December 2021 |quote=Following Tuesday's executions, the number of inmates sitting on death row in Japan stands at 107. |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004203858/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/12/21/national/japan-executions-2019/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Support for capital punishment has consistently been high among the Japanese public. In a poll conducted in November 2019 of 3,000 Japanese adults by the [[Cabinet Office (Japan)|Cabinet Office]], 80.8% of respondents stated they support the continued usage of the death penalty in Japan, while 9% stated it should be abolished in all cases. When the question proposed the introduction of life sentencing without parole, 35.1% answered that the death penalty should be abolished, while 52.0% said it should continue.<ref name="CBO">{{cite web |title=Poll Reveals More than 80% Support Death Penalty in Japan |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00640/poll-reveals-more-than-80-support-death-penalty-in-japan.html |website=nippon.com |access-date=22 March 2022 |language=en |date=4 February 2020}}</ref> Actual support for the retention of the death penalty in Japan is likely less than what polls suggest due to the use of leading questions.<ref name="The Economist">{{cite news |date= 26 April 2022 |title= Why Japan retains the death penalty |url= https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/04/26/why-japan-retains-the-death-penalty |work= The Economist |access-date= 14 January 2024 |quote= But popular zeal for the death penalty may be less solid than it looks. Government surveys use leading questions that favour retention.}}</ref>

 

 

==History==