Campaigners against the death penalty staged a rally...

Campaigners against the death penalty staged a rally in Tokyo, asking the government to open a public debate on capital punishment and reforming Japan's law on it.
"There is no national deliberation on the issue (death penalty). We want an extensive discussion to raise awareness among people which will be the deciding factor in the extension of the current law," explained Akira Ishikawa of Amnesty International Japan.
At present, the Japanese authorities keep executions low profile. Death-row inmates are not executed unless ordered by the justice minister. The justice minister does not disclose the names of those executed until afterwards. There are currently 56 prisoners, including two women, on death row.
Details of the execution remain state secrets, but anti-death penalty activists report that judging from Toshihiko Hasegawa's body, which was released to his family, he had struggled for 15 minutes with the noose round his neck before he finally died. Hasegawa [executed in December 2001] had about two hours notice before he was taken to the gallows. Activists say the government does not release the bodies of hanged prisoners to family unless official requests have been made before the executions.
Lawyer Nobuto Hosaka of the Social Democratic Party says capital punishment is inhuman and actually against the Japanese tradition of respect for life.
Research compiled by activists reveals that the relatives of the executed are tormented with shame and sorrow after the death of their kin.
"Japanese society views criminals as evil who must not be allowed to re-enter society again. This harsh backdrop provides much pain for the family members of criminals," says Ishikawa.
At the same time, some parents or siblings feel deep shame and would not even think of protesting the official executions, a situation ingrained in Japanese tradition that upholds the good of the public against individual wishes.