Anti-death penalty minister opens up gallows for debate in Japan

Japan has briefly opened up the secretive world of its capital punishment system to the media, offering a rare tour of Tokyo's gallows in an effort to spark debate about a policy widely supported in the country.

Executions are carried out by hanging, and the media is forbidden from covering them. Death row inmates are only told at the last minute if they are to be executed, with family and lawyers being told after the event.

Japan is one of the few industrialised nations to maintain capital punishment, though the United States leads the field.

Japan currently has 107 inmates on death row and executed seven prisoners last year.

Despite persistent criticism by Amnesty International and the Japanese bar association, there is little public outcry against capital punishment in Japan, where official surveys recently revealed 80 per cent support.

But the media tour yesterday at the Tokyo Detention Centre - broadcast on major TV stations - appears to be driven by justice minister Keiko Chiba, who opposes the death penalty.

In July, she approved - and witnessed - the hangings of two convicted murderers. But afterwards she said she still supports the abolition of capital punishment and ordered journalists be allowed to tour the facilities in a bid to spur debate. It is the first such tour since at least the end of the Second World War.

"I hope the public viewing of the execution chamber would help national debate on the death penalty," she said.

But justice officials said the viewing was a one-off.

"In principle, we believe the execution chamber is not suited for public viewing because of its nature," said Satoshi Tomiyama, a ministry official.

Japanese TV news programmes showed footage from the tour, including the execution room, where a red square marked the trapdoor where the condemned stands.

Even the exact location of the execution site is a secret. Reporters were taken on the tour on a bus with curtains shut tight.

They were led to a room decorated with a Buddha statue before reaching the death chamber, separated by a curtain. The hanging rope was removed from the ceiling pulley and the trap door was closed. TV footage showed a small room next to the chamber where three executioners simultaneously push a button so none knows who opened the trapdoor.

Japan has a 99 per cent conviction rate - a number that hasn't changed even after the country introduced a jury system for serious cases tried at district courts.

The high conviction rate has raised concerns about the country's criminal justice system. Police interrogate suspects in closed rooms for hours without a lawyer present or full recording, which critics say leads to coerced confessions.