Over 80 per cent of Japanese people favour capital punishment: Report

TOKYO: According to a government survey in Japan, over 80 percent of Japanese people support the death penalty, stating that the existence of the system is "unavoidable," local media reported on Sunday. This survey is conducted every five years, and for the fifth consecutive term, the support for capital punishment exceeded 80 percent in a government poll, reports the leading news portal, Kyodo News.

In the most recent survey, it was shown that the approval for capital punishment increased by 2.3 points, reaching 83.1 percent in comparison to the earlier survey conducted in 2019. At the same time, the percentage of individuals supporting abolition saw a more significant increase of 7.5 points, climbing to 16.5 percent.

The main reason for the support of the death penalty given by 66.2 percent was concern for the feelings of victims of capital crimes and their families. Meanwhile, a total of 55.5 percent said violent crimes should be paid for with lives, while 53.4 percent, raising concern, stated that the abolition of capital punishment would lead to a rise in atrocious crimes.

On the other hand, the section of people favouring the abolition of the death penalty, among them 71 percent, gave the reason that mistaken convictions become irreversible.

Meanwhile, many said that the death penalty should be abolished if life imprisonment without parole is introduced, while others favouring the death penalty said it should remain in place.

The survey was conducted between October and December after an 88-year-old man, Iwao Hakamada, was acquitted in a retrial in 2024 over a 1966 quadruple murder case after spending more than four decades on death row, Kyodo News reported. (IANS)

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