The Death Penalty in Japan : Will the Public Tolerate Abolition?

Mai Sato examines public attitudes to the death penalty in Japan, focusing on knowledge and attitudinal factors relating to support for, and opposition to, the death penalty. She uses a mixed-method approach and mounts quantitative and qualitative surveys to assess Japanese death penalty attitudes. The authors main findings show that death penalty attitudes are not fixed but fluid. Information has a significant impact on reducing support for the death penalty while retributive attitudes are associated with support. This book offers a new conceptual framework in understanding the death penalty without replying on the usual human rights approach, which can be widely applied not just to Japan but to other retentionist countries.