The execution room is considered to be one of the most secret places used to execute death row inmates quickly.
According to Mirror, the execution of the death penalty in Japan has long been secret and influenced by rituals. Japan today still maintains the death penalty, although many countries around the world have abolished it. The latest person to die in the execution room was the ” apocalyptic” gun leader Shoko Asahara.
Inside the execution room in Japan.
For death row inmates like Masakatsu Nishikawa, death is just a passage to another world. The floor is clean, the lights are pleasant, the sound of Buddhist scriptures is low and smooth, and the art is elegant in the room. Nishikawa, 61, was sentenced to death for murdering four women in a gruesome murder that took place more than 25 years ago.
In the room there is a statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and that is the only face this death row inmate saw before execution. The death row inmate will then enter the red square in the middle of the room.
This is where death row inmates repent with the pastor before being taken to the execution room.
The execution team will wrap the rope around the death row inmate’s neck. Once the moment came, the trap door opened, causing the death row inmate to fall into the room below and die instantly.
Statistics from 2012-2016 show that 24 people were executed in Japan. As of December 31, 2017, there are 123 death row inmates awaiting execution. This is the highest number recorded since 2007
This is the place to observe the execution process.
The latest death row inmate to be executed in that room is Shoko Asahara, the leader of the “apocalyptic” sect behind the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.
The attack left 13 people dead and more than 6,000 others injured. Asahara was hanged along with five accomplices on July 6.
There are 3 buttons and the execution team will press the button at the same time to finish off the death row inmate standing in the red box.
The execution went well and there was almost no objection from the public, partly because Japan always kept the execution process secret.
According to Mirror, most Japanese prisoners have to wait at least 5 years to execute their sentences. There are people like Nishikawa or Asahara who have to wait for decades, not knowing when their last day will come.
In 2010, the Japanese government took an unprecedented move. That is to allow reporters to film at the place where the death row inmates are held as well as the execution room.
The statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is the last face the death row inmates see before being blindfolded.
During the execution of the sentence, 3 people will simultaneously press 3 separate red buttons. So no one knows if he is the one to finish the death row inmates or not. The members of the execution team are also kept anonymous and rotated.
With this form of death penalty, death row inmates will die from a broken neck before they can suffocate. A doctor was present directly below to declare the death row inmate dead and return the body to the family.
Masahiko Fujita, who was a “executioner” in the 1970s, revealed that the hanger knot was carefully placed so that the death row inmate would bow his head in front of onlookers. The hands and feet of death row inmates are also tied tightly in case of unusual circumstances.
Death row inmates in Japan are also given their last meal, but are not given a chance to say goodbye to their families and loved ones in the outside world.