In around 83 years Japan will manage to match the execution pace of George W. Bush - provided Japan maintains their present rate of executions (approx. 1.8 executions a year since 2000) Should we conclude that Japan ought to execute more prisoners each year so as to be more human and perhaps even shorten the sentances to say one day after sentancing and then you get hung or should we simply say life without parole is acceptable and is more human, or is 20-30 years in prison for murder punishment enough or is that too liberal? Is waking up everyday knowing you might die not Zen? At least this problem illustrates the weakness in the principle of deduction.

Good thing the US doesn't have the death penalty

oops

And yet, surprisingly, Japan has low crime. Funny, that.

I have never understood the debates that rage about the suffering caused by the various types of execution. The victim ends up dead. That`s D.E.A.D, killed.
Nothing else that happens to them is likely to be as bad as that. The idea that there can ever be any ethical killing of human beings, aside from　in self-defence, is just bizarre.

All of the Asian countries seem to have extremely strict corporal punishment.

Oh, I'm crying for them. NOT

Mind you, I don't agree with the horrible conditions and a court system that has 99% conviction, but remember that Japan only executes the worst of the worst these days - the leader of Aum Shinrikyo, for example - and ends up at 2-3 a year.

Honestly, if we were talking about that few and only the worst of worst crimes, few people would be so adamant about the death penalty.

@ anthonyberet:

Okay, you can die by single gunshot to the head, or via gruesome strangulation over the course of 5-15 minutes. Your choice.

Eric B. --

"Mind you, I don't agree with the horrible conditions and a court system that has 99% conviction, but remember that Japan only executes the worst of the worst these days - the leader of Aum Shinrikyo, for example - and ends up at 2-3 a year."

True -- though it depends on the government in charge -- but there are also at least 87 people still sitting on death row, and more added every year -- and as the report points out, sitting on death row can be worse than actual execution. (Mind you, I never claimed this was the most pressing problem in the world, but it's still quite striking.)

@ Flashman (not that you are likely to come back and read this).

You miss my point. Yes a death can be slow and painful. That does not mean that a killing which is quick and painless can be morally ok.

@ Flashman again - oh, I forgot euthanasia to reduce suffering. That can be a killing which is morally ok. However, this doesn't apply to execution, as there is an alternative to execution which doesn't result in the death of a human being.

"Not that American prisons are -much- better..."

Oh, I'd say that the American penal system is a veritable network of country clubs compared to Japan, or many if not most Asian and Middle Eastern prisons. There are people incarcerated here who have freedoms those in the above countries can only dream about. I've seen other stories about Japan's prisons; our dogs & cats in animal shelters are often treated better. It's always fun to bash America first, but I'd say we come out on top compared to many of the world's countries.

I will say that the death penalty is completely wrong. No wonder society was and still is in the state it is in. Children grow up with the idea in the back of their mind, that it is OK to kill people.. No matter what the circumstance, and how "rarely" it happens, And how justified we may belive it is, The governments of the world are still killing people. it's just not right at all. I for one also think that a life in prison serves as a better punishment and deterent towards crime. And yes, it may be also a very cruel thing to do, much like Capitol punishment, but it is not taking away actual life, which is sacred.