The Japanese government allowed their “death chambers” to be viewed by the media. There is currently a debate in Japan over the death penalty. Currently, the death penalty in Japan consists of hanging.
The media was allowed to take photographs of the chamber. There was a wooden box with a red trap door on it. The person who is sentenced to execution stands on the red door and a noose is tied around their neck. The trap door is opened, and they are hanged.
There’s also a Buddhist shrine and a viewing room inside. The shrine allows the person being executed to have religious representation.
Japan ’s Justice Minister Keiko Chiba was the first in such position to ever view an execution. After that, she’s been rallying against the death penalty system.
Although 80% of the Japanese support the death penalty, Amnesty International is trying to help in the rally against it. Conditions on death row make inmates go crazy. They are not told when they will be executed and their families are only told AFTER the hanging.
Do you think that the Japanese should have a system in the US where those on death row could be pardoned by a governor or the President?
I think the death penalty should be ABOLISHED. Texas in the USA is the best proof that it does NOT work. How do YOU explain the LARGE number of executions? Either one executed killer is just replaced by a new one, so it is NOT A DETERRENT AT ALL, or MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EXECUTED. The death penalty is often used for POOR and MINORITY people who CANNOT afford a good defense. Only THREE industrialized democracies (Japan, USA, and South Korea) still have it. KEIKO CHIBA is right that she wants to abolish it, and I hope she will be successful.
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