Japan parties split on death penalty abolition: human rights group survey

TOKYO - Japanese political parties are split on abolishing the death penalty, with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Centrist Reform Alliance not taking a clear stance on the issue, a survey released by a human rights group ahead of Sunday's general election showed.

In the questionnaire conducted by Tokyo-based Human Rights Now, the long-ruling LDP said the issue should be "considered cautiously by fully taking into account public opinion" as it "relates to the foundation of the criminal justice system."

The new centrist alliance formed by members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Komeito party, the LDP's former ruling coalition partner, noted the "international criticism" of Japan's capital punishment but added opinion polls show public support for it.

"We hope to deepen the national debate, with the dignity of life as an underlying perspective," the alliance said.

The right-leaning Japan Innovation Party, which teamed up with the LDP led by Sanae Takaichi just before she became prime minister in October, said it opposes abolition of the death penalty because "a national debate has not matured."

Abolition was supported by the Japanese Communist Party, which called the death penalty "the most brutal punishment," and the anti-establishment Reiwa Shinsengumi party, which said such a punishment has "an irreversible aspect."

Japan and the United States are the only Group of Seven countries to still hand down death sentences.

The survey covered 11 parties, with some smaller opposition parties, including right-leaning populist Sanseito, not responding to the questionnaire by the deadline, according to Human Rights Now.

Source: kyodonews.net, Staff, February 7, 2026

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

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