Tokyo's execution secrets revealed as death chamber opens to public for first time

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http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/tokyos-execution-secrets-revealed-as-death-chamber-opens-to-public-for-first-time/story-e6frf7lf-1225909152798

Tokyo's execution secrets revealed as death chamber opens to public for first time

From: NewsCore August 24, 2010 1:17AM

<snip>“The cruelest aspects (of the execution process) may be veiled by the Justice Ministry. Depending on how it’s presented it looks not like a death chamber but like a lounge in a public building.”

He said that while visitors are shown a comfortable room befitting an expensive hotel, death actually occurs in a basement below, which contains nothing except a drain to catch the waste products during the 10 minutes that the prisoner hangs.

“The important thing will be whether the visit to this basement room will be allowed,” Mr Hosaka said.

“(It) is a space with an impression of death, with a bare concrete floor in contrast to the carpeted room.

"Entering this room makes one realise that life and death is only separated here by a trapdoor.”