Introduction
This paper examines and discusses issues surrounding the current situation regarding capital punishment in Japan, where execution by hanging is still practiced, despite a number of expressed concerns. Japan is in a minority of the world’s countries still exercising the option of capital punishment. According to Rogers (Apr 2013), “there are nearly five times as many countries not executing prisoners as those that do in 2012.” The issue is not simply whether Japan should continue to use the death penalty, but also includes the way it treats prisoners on “Death Row” – those awaiting execution.
Although it is ...
