"The death penalty is unavoidable for a person who has committed an extremely grave and atrocious crime," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Thursday at a press conference in Tokyo.
The decision came after a 16-member advisory panel, comprising former judicial officials and academics, urged the government to establish a review committee to examine the future of capital punishment.
The panel highlighted concerns about potential judicial errors, referencing the case of Iwao Hakamata, who was recently exonerated after spending about 48 years on death row.
Japan remains one of only two G7 nations, alongside the United States, that retain capital punishment, while about 144 countries worldwide have abolished the practice either in law or in practice, according to Amnesty International.
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