People who had had experience dealing with death row...

People who had had experience dealing with death row inmates told a symposium in Tokyo that they believed such criminals could be rehabilitated. A lawyer and a prison chaplain expressed this view at the symposium on capital punishment sponsored by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and local lawyers' groups. One of the panelists was Shigeki Todani, head of the defense team for Mamoru Takuma, 40, who was sentenced to death in August 2003 for killing eight children and injuring 13 others and two teachers in a stabbing rampage at Ikeda Elementary School in June 2001, despite his defense team's argument that he was mentally incompetent. Todani said that although Takuma showed little remorse and apology during court proceedings, "He has gradually showed humane feeling." Following Takuma's arrest, Todani received many letters - mainly from those who also suffer from mental illness saying that they too could have committed such crimes under certain circumstances - as well as their families. "He has been encouraged by these letters and even asked me to thank them," Todani told the panel. "This shows generous support can change him, but I could not draw out his humane feeling at the court, where he adopted a defiant attitude."
Another panelist, Michio Tsukada, served as a prison chaplain at the Nagoya Detention House from 1981 to 1995. During that time he got to know three death row inmates before they were executed. "I was scared to face them before meeting them, but all of them were courteous and polite, and they fully repented for what they had done," he said. "One of them was involved in work at the prison to send several hundred yen monthly to his victim's family for flowers." Tsukada also said, "I believe they changed. Nobody can say a death row inmate cannot be rehabilitated. I believe the government should abolish the death penalty." Todani also indicated his opposition to the death penalty, saying, "Execution is murder by the state. I do not think a state, which prohibits murder, should maintain the death penalty and I expect the public to share the same view."