Over 80% of Japanese say death penalty system is 'unavoidable'

The vast majority of the public continues to endorse the country's death penalty system, according to a recent government survey.

In the Cabinet Office's survey of 1,815 people between October and December, 83.1% said that the system is “unavoidable.”

The percentage of respondents giving that answer exceeded 80% for the fifth consecutive time.

When asked about whether they’d support abolishing the death penalty in the future if “circumstances change,” 34.4% of the 1,508 respondents who said the death penalty system is “unavoidable” answered in favor.

The survey, which is conducted every five years, also found that 16.5% of respondents believe the death penalty should be abolished, compared with 9% in the previous edition.

The Cabinet Office did not compare the latest results with past editions, since the survey method changed from in-person interviews to mailed-in responses following the pandemic.

"Misleading"

Although the latest poll suggests that the death penalty is still widely accepted, Japan’s largest attorneys group said last year that it is misleading to use the survey as a basis to say that over 80% of people support the death penalty.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has repeatedly said that the structure and design of the survey is problematic.

“This structure lumps together respondents who selected ‘the death penalty is unavoidable’ despite the diversity of opinions within this group,” the federation said in a petition statement in January 2024.

“As a result, the interpretation that ‘80% of the public supports the death penalty system’ has taken on a life of its own and is now being used as justification for maintaining the death penalty.”

The government has relied heavily on the survey to back up its stance on the death penalty. Current and former justice ministers have repeatedly stated it is not appropriate to abolish the penalty, as the majority of the public holds that it is “unavoidable” in case of extremely heinous and atrocious crimes.

A Justice Ministry official overseeing criminal affairs said the survey is intended to “gauge public opinion on whether the death penalty should be completely abolished as a legal institution,” and that the ministry believes criticisms that the response options are leading or manipulative are unfounded.

Based on a Japan Times calculation using a method that the federation has used in the past to contend that support for abolition is in fact higher, the latest survey shows 45% of all respondents were in favor of abolishing the death penalty in the future, while 53% were against that. This is based on adding up those who said the death penalty should be abolished and respondents who said it's unavoidable for now but might be in favor of its abolition in the future.

Abolition vs. LWOP

The latest survey also asked all respondents whether they’d support abolishing the death penalty if lifetime imprisonment without parole — which currently doesn’t exist in Japan — is introduced; 37.5% answered yes, while 61.8% said no.

In addition, among the 300 respondents who said the death penalty should be abolished, 71% said this is because it leaves no room for correction if there were problems with the trial. In the 2019 survey, 50.7% gave the same response.

There are five cases in Japan's postwar history in which a person whose death penalty had been finalized was found innocent in a retrial.

The most recent case happened two weeks before the latest survey took place, when a Shizuoka court in late September ruled ex-boxer Iwao Hakamada not guilty in a 1966 murder case.

There were 106 inmates awaiting execution in Japan at the end of 2023. The most recent execution took place in July 2022.

Source: Japan Today, Francis Tang, February 21, 2025

_____________________________________________________________________

Twitter/X | Instagram | Telegram | Contact Us

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

Singapore executes three drug mules over two days

Singapore hanged three people for drug offences last week, bringing the total number of executions to 17 this year - the highest since 2003. These come a week before a constitutional challenge against the death penalty for drug offences is due to be heard. Singapore has some of the world's harshest anti-drug laws, which it says are a necessary deterrent to drug crime, a major issue elsewhere in South East Asia. Anyone convicted of trafficking - which includes selling, giving, transporting or administering - more than 15g of diamorphine, 30g of cocaine, 250g of methamphetamine and 500g of cannabis in Singapore will be handed the death sentence.

Florida | After nearly 50 years on death row, Tommy Zeigler seeks final chance at freedom

The Winter Garden Police chief was at a party on Christmas Eve 1975 when he received a phone call from his friend Tommy Zeigler, the owner of a furniture store on Dillard Street. “I’ve been shot, please hurry,” Zeigler told the chief as he struggled for breath. When police arrived at the store, Zeigler, 30, managed to unlock the door and then collapsed “with a gaping bullet hole through his lower abdomen,” court records show. In the store, detectives found a gruesome, bloody crime scene and several guns. Four other people — Zeigler’s wife, his in-laws and a laborer — lay dead.

Louisiana death row inmate freed after nearly 30 years as overturned conviction upends case

A Louisiana man who spent nearly 30 years on death row walked out of prison Wednesday after a judge overturned his conviction and granted him bail. Jimmie Duncan, now in his 60s, was sentenced to death in 1998 for the alleged rape and drowning of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux — a case long clouded by disputed forensic testimony. His release comes months after a state judge ruled that the evidence prosecutors used to secure the conviction was unreliable and rooted in discredited bite-mark analysis.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Vietnam | Woman sentenced to death for poisoning 4 family members with cyanide

A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community. The Dong Nai People's Court found 39-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong Bich guilty of murder and of illegally possessing and using toxic chemicals. Judges described her actions as "cold-blooded, inhumane and calculated," saying Bich exploited the trust of her victims and "destroyed every ethical bond within her family."

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

Iran carries out public hanging of "double-rapist"

Iran on Tuesday publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary's official outlet Mizan Online reported. Mizan cited the head of the provincial judiciary, Mohammad Akbari, as saying the ruling had been 'confirmed and enforced after precise review by the Supreme Court'. The provincial authority said the man had 'deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion', adding that he used 'intimidation and threats' to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog