Japan’s primitive view of capital punishment is slowly changing, in the face of death

Japan hanged 3 men, bringing the number of executions in the country this year to 9. Although most of the world is against capital punishment, Japan is one of the very few industrialised countries to retain the death penalty and a recent poll suggests that fewer than 10% of Japanese people oppose the death penalty. But, for the first time, the names of the hanged men were made public. Previously, authorities preserved anonymity “to reduce the psychological damage to their families”. But perhaps this opening up is the first step in Japan removing capital punishment from their society. It is an important step in cultural enlightenment and we hope that a more humane policy of justice and reformation will emerge soon.