Japan’s death penalty, a cruel and unusually popular punishment
It can take decades for the condemned to meet their fate, and guards – not professionals – do the ‘unbearable’ task. So why is capital punishment so popular here?
Years waiting on death row, inmates told their fate just hours before their execution, and guards paid US$180 to do an “unbearable” job – Japan’s capital punishment system is criticised as cruel and secretive yet remains popular.
Inmates are executed not by professionals but by ordinary prison staff who may have been guarding the condemned for months or even years, and who receive extra an 20,000 yen (US$180) each.
“It’s awful, the body bounces like a 70kg object on a nylon rope,” said Toshio Sakamoto, who witnessed noosed inmates plunge to their deaths, and described the process as “unbearable”.
Blindfolded convicts, usually serial murderers, are led to a spot with their feet bound and hands cuffed. Then, a trapdoor opens below.
The mechanism is triggered by a button in an adjacent room, pressed simultaneously by several officers, although none is told which button is the “live one” that will cause the prisoner’s fall.
