JAPAN. NO. OF DEATH ROW INMATES HITS 78, SIGN OF TOUGHENING PENALTIES

it was reported that the number of inmates in Japan whose death sentences had been finalized stood at 78, the largest in 37 years.
Death sentences were finalized for 15 inmates in 2004 and 11 in 2005, bringing the total figure of those awaiting death to its highest since 1968, when 82 inmates faced the gallows. Meanwhile, 38 people were sentenced to death in 2005, following 42 last year -- with 10 at the Supreme Court, 13 at the district courts and 15 at the high courts.