Japan
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government
- CONSTITUTION
- May 3, 1947
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on the German model with Anglo-American influences; review of legislative acts by the Supreme Court
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, House of Councillors (Sangi-in) and House of Representatives (Shugi-in)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court (president appointed by the King on the recommendation of the Government, others appointed by the Government)
RELIGIONS
majority of Buddhists and Shintoists; minorities of Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox
From the country
- NOVEMBER 3, 1999JapanDEATH PENALTY
On November 3, speaking at the Third Committee of the...
On November 3, speaking at the Third Committee of the General Assembly (human rights) under item 116a (death penalty), Kunio Umeda said that as is clear from the discussion in the last three years in the Commission on Human Rights, in the ECOSOC and in th
- SEPTEMBER 10, 1999JapanDEATH PENALTY
On September 10, 3 death row inmates: Masashi Sato,...
On September 10, 3 death row inmates: Masashi Sato, 62; Katsutoshi Takada, 61; and Tetsuyuki Morikawa, 69, were hanged
- JULY 22, 1999JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japan signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
Japan signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death penalty
- APRIL 28, 1999JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japan voted against the resolution on the death penalty...
Japan voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 28
- JANUARY 8, 1999JapanDEATH PENALTY
On January 8, in Osaka, prosecutors demanded the death...
On January 8, in Osaka, prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Yasutoshi Kamata, 58, for murdering a 9-year-old girl and 4 women and abandoning their bodies in the mountains in Nara and Osaka Prefectures between 1985 and 1994
- JANUARY 1, 1999JapanDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for by the Criminal Procedure...
The death penalty is provided for by the Criminal Procedure Law and by the Penal Code for a number of offenses (13) but, in practice, it is applied only for murder
- JANUARY 1, 1999JapanDEATH PENALTY
Citing Buddhist teachings, which include mercy for...
Citing Buddhist teachings, which include mercy for others, the Buddhist sect known as Tendai which dates from the Heian period (794-1185), has called for the abolishment of capital punishment