The Death Penalty in Japan and the Abolition Debate

As of September, 1995.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations published a booklet entitled Prisons in Japan — the Human Rights Situation in Japanese Prisons, in 1993, which alleged ill-treatment of prisoners in detention centres and prisons. The booklet triggered a dispute between the Federation and the Ministry of Justice

For a discussion on this approach, see Foote D.H. “The Benevolent Paternalism of Japanese Criminal Justice” (1992) California Law Review, Vol. 80. Also see Castberg Didrick A. (1990) Japanese Criminal Justice, New York: Praeger.

Reported in (1994) Japan Times, August 9. The person sentenced to death was 20 years old but was 19, a minor, at the time of committing the offences.

Source “Government of Japan. Summary of White Papers on Crime”, 1993, p. 11.

Source: “Government of Japan. Summary of White Papers on Crime”, 1994, p. 10.

For example, Tetsuo Kawanaka, executed in 1993 for crimes committed in 1975 and 1977. See McCarthy Terry (1994) The Independent, February 7, “Out of Japan” column.

See (1989) Japan Times, June 23.

For descriptions of conditions for condemned prisoners, see Prisons in Japan — The Human Rights Situation in Japanese Prisons, op. cit., and Kimiko Otsuka (1992) The Last Moment of Death Row Convicts.

Reported in (1995) Japan Times, August 11, p. 2.

See (1993) Japan Times, January 27, p. 3.

For comparisons with other countries, see Oda (1992) Japan Law, London: Butterworths, Appendix 8; “The Secret of Japan's Safe Streets” (1994) The Economist, April 16, p. 95.

For example, see (1994) Japan Times, April 12, editorial “Executions violate human rights”.

Kawakami Kazuo Mr , interviewed in the weekly Shukan Yomiuri, December 19, 1993.

Mr Masahuru Gotoda of the Liberal Democratic Party and following that party's defeat in the general election Mr Akira Mikazuki of the anti-LDP coalition.

See (1994) Japan Times, April 12, editorial “Executions violate human rights”.

See (1995) Japan Times, August 13, “Cabinet Interview”.

For example, Professor Namazugoshi in his description of surveys concerning public attitudes to the death penalty during a programme about capital punishment in Japan, recorded by Channel 4 Television on August 12, 1995.

On parole and a suggested new life sentence for murder and murder in the course of robbery, see Isa and Tsujimoto Yashio (1993) The Death Penalty in Asian Countries, Chuo Gakuin University.

See Iwai Makoto , Manager of Amnesty International Japanese Section. (1993) Japan Times, January 27.

Under present legislation the Government can provide up to 9.3m. Yen (approximately £55,000) for the family of a murder victim.

See McCarthy Terry (1994) The Independent, February 7, “Out of Japan”.

For example Muraki Ichiro , quoted in (1993) Japan Times, December 30, article “Lawyers' Victims Fight Forced Confessions”.

For example, Tashikuni Murai, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology at Hitotsubashi University quoted in article, ibid.

Article 38, para.2.

Article 319.

Between 1985 and 1992, according to a report written by the Japanese Federation of Bar Associations, defendants in 71 cases were either acquitted or granted retrials after court rulings that their confessions were not credible. Critics consider these cases represent a very small fraction of the total number in which confessions have been forced or fabricated.

See “Retrial System Said Unfair to Appellants” (1994) Daily Yomiuri, August 4.

Interview with Professor Namazugoshi, Professor of Criminal Law and Procedure, Niigata University.