Japanese commuters on 6 July would have instantly recognized the distinctive, bearded face of Chizuo Matsumoto on the silent screens that hang in train carriages. Newscasters were announcing that the mastermind of the 1995 sarin gas attacks in Tokyo, in which 12 were killed and 1,000 injured, had been executed by hanging, along with 6 members of his doomsday cult.
Japan, South Korea and the US are the only OECD countries that still use the death penalty. But the Japanese process is unique: death row inmates are typically only told on the morning of their execution that it is taking place, sometimes decades after being convicted. The UN has criticized this practice for placing a ‘psychological strain’ on inmates and their families.
