New Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka believes most Japanese approve of capital punishment because, he said, the country has a cultural background in which death is considered "gracious" for criminals.
"Capital punishment should continue to exist because we should respect people's sentiment that (the most heinous crimes) have to be compensated for only by death," Yasuoka, who was appointed to the post Aug. 1, told a group of journalists in his office Thursday.
Yasuoka's stance suggests that the number of hangings may remain high: Yasuoka's predecessor, Kunio Hatoyama, signed 13 execution orders, the most by a single justice minister at least since 1993, during his 12 months in the post.