The Asahi Shimbun Liberal Democratic Party (LPD) members...

The Asahi Shimbun Liberal Democratic Party (LPD) members in favor of capital punishment stalled a bill to set up a panel on abolishing the death penalty, before it even reached the Diet.
The deadlock came as the veil of secrecy shrouding the death penalty was lifted. On this day, for the first time in 30 years, lawmakers toured an execution chamber.
The Justice Ministry consented to the visit, at Tokyo Prison, at the request of an anti-death penalty group of 120 lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties. The bill, drafted in June by the Diet Members' League for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, would add a tougher life sentence, eliminating the possibility of parole. At the time of writing those serving life sentences are paroled after an average of about 21 years behind bars.
Group members hope the tougher penalty will eventually replace capital punishment. The bill, which did not propose an outright death penalty ban, also called for suspending death by hanging until a commission made a decision on whether to abolish it.