Japan’s new justice minister defends death penalty amid debate over wrongful convictions

Hideki Makihara defended Japan’s use of capital punishment, despite debate sparked by the acquittal of a man wrongly imprisoned on death row for nearly 50 years

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Hideki Makihara, newly appointed minister of Justice, arrives at the Japanese Prime Minister’s official residence on October 1 in Tokyo. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00am, 4 Oct 2024Updated: 9:54am, 4 Oct 2024

Japan’s new justice minister has defended the country’s commitment to capital punishment, rejecting calls for its abolition, despite renewed public debate sparked by the acquittal of a man wrongfully held on death row for nearly 50 years.

In his first press conference since being appointed by new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday, Hideki Makihara told reporters, “Given the continuing number of heinous crimes, the imposition of the death penalty is unavoidable.

“I do not believe it is appropriate to abolish the death penalty, although we will think about employing it carefully and with great sincerity,” he said.

Makihara’s stance has been largely welcomed in a nation where around 80 per cent of the population supports the death penalty for serious crimes.

“If a crime is so serious, I would say that it cannot be punished with a term of life in prison,” said Ken Kato, a Tokyo-based businessman who describes himself as politically conservative. “That would be inadequate punishment for the victim, and I’m glad that the laws we have reflect that position.”

Kato cites several individuals, he believes received appropriate death sentences for their crimes, including Tsutomu Miyazaki, a serial killer who abducted and murdered four young girls between the ages of 4 and 7 in 1988 and 1989. Miyazaki dismembered the girls, molested their corpses and ate parts of their bodies. He then mocked the girls’ families by sending them postcards.