Photo/Illutration Yoshikuni Noguchi, a lawyer who once worked as a correctional officer (Emiko Arimoto)

A former correctional officer offered a rare first-hand account of the execution of a death row inmate he participated in more than a half a century ago and his thoughts at the time. 

Now a lawyer, Yoshikuni Noguchi talked about his experiences as a correctional officer with The Asahi Shimbun and the somber duty of carrying out an execution.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Question: You have publicized your experience of taking part in the carrying out of the death sentence. Although that experience occurred about half a century ago, I was surprised to learn that you said recently that you never talked about that experience with your family. Is that true?

Noguchi: Yes, it is. I have never spoken about it to my wife or son. The reason is that it was something I did not want to talk about. That is all.

If asked or if I felt there was a need, I have given lectures or agreed to be interviewed to talk about what I went through in the carrying out of the death sentence. For that reason, I believe my family naturally knows about what I talked about. But it has never come up in family conversation.

Q: In Japan, correctional officers at detention houses have mainly conducted the executions. But you are also the rare lawyer who formerly worked as a correctional officer, aren’t you?

A: Because I had an interest in bad behavior by juveniles, I entered the Justice Ministry after graduating from university because I wanted to become a teacher at a juvenile prison. But I was ordered to work at the Tokyo Detention House and I was very surprised when I was told to wear the uniform of a correctional officer when I arrived there. I thought that was not what I expected, but I was talked into taking on the duty.

Q: Were you aware when you first arrived at the detention house that among the duties of a correctional officer was the possibility of carrying out the death sentence?

A: I had no such awareness. As I worked, I gradually became vaguely aware.

Q: What do you mean by vaguely?

A: Not a single person that I worked with spoke about the death sentence. Although there was no ban on talking about it, there was a silent understanding to not talk about it.

But there were rare occasions when someone let slip a partial explanation. One time, a higher-ranking officer said, “Noguchi, the death sentence is a solemn thing.” But even then, I never imagined that I would ever be on hand for carrying out an execution.

Q: How did you become involved in carrying out the execution?

A: Toward the end of 1971 when I was in charge of administering one of the detention buildings, a superior told me, “There will be an execution tomorrow, so I want you to handle the death row inmate.” I could not say no to an order.

The death row inmate was transferred to the building I was in charge of and we kept a very strict inspection over him for 24 hours. The execution was scheduled for the next day. My duty was to ensure that the inmate was taken to the execution chamber.

Q: Does that mean that at the Tokyo Detention House of that time, the inmate was told about the execution a day ahead of time, not on the day of the execution?

A: Yes. On the afternoon the inmate was informed, his wife and relatives rushed to the detention house after receiving a telegram. I took the man to the visiting room. His wife held his hand and cried without saying anything. The man said, “All humans die, it is only a question of who comes first so please do not be sad.” The wife in the end only managed to get out the words, “Our son’s face has begun to resemble you.” To be honest, I had tears in my eyes.

The next morning, I took the man to the execution chamber. While my duty would normally have ended there, I stayed behind at the chamber out of my own volition.

Q: Why was that?

A: I felt that I was unable to save a person’s life and so I thought that I should witness the execution. The other correctional officers blindfolded the man and handcuffed him behind his back. I stood by as they took the man to where a rope was hanging from the ceiling.

There was a one-meter square board where the man stood and a correctional officer placed the rope around the man’s neck. At that instant, a superior signaled the three correctional officers waiting on the other side of the plate glass window and the board opened with a loud bang. The man fell straight down. I unconsciously reached out to grab the rope.

20250129-Interview-P3-L
Yoshikuni Noguchi responds in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun and discusses his work as a lawyer handling juvenile crime. (Emiko Arimoto)

Q: Why did you do that?

A: Because the rope was swinging so wildly as it recoiled from the man’s weight. When I looked down, the man’s head was just in front of my eyes. The medical officer waiting below opened the man’s shirt and applied a stethoscope. When I saw that his heart was still beating, I thought, “This person might be saved if we did something now.”

I had the realization that we were killing a person. While we were obeying the law and carrying out duties that we could not defy, what remained with me was the feeling that there was nothing I could do for the man as well as no saving grace.

Q: Didn’t you also at one time say that witnessing the execution left behind a sort of trauma?

A: The memory of the man’s heart beating did not disappear.

Q: Did you also feel the execution was solemn?

A: No, I did not think so.

Q: I understand one of the three correctional officers standing on the other side of the plate glass window was one of your subordinates. Is it really true that you never talked about that experience even once with that subordinate?

A: Yes. We did not even talk about what a difficult thing it had been. I only realized for the first time the subordinate had been ordered to be one of those involved in the execution when I saw his face on the other side of the window. Even though I was his superior, I was not told about that order.

There were levers to open the board on the floor of the execution chamber. They were to pull their levers simultaneously. This was meant to lessen the psychological burden by not making it clear whose lever led to the opening of the board.

Q: Even though it was such a trying experience, why did you talk in front of people about your experience at the execution?

A: That is because I felt the people have a right to know about how the executions are carried out as well as a moral obligation to know about it. I then thought that it was my obligation to talk about the experience.

After I became a lawyer after quitting the Justice Ministry, I began talking about that experience from about 40 years ago when I was asked to do so.

Q: What is the reason for your thinking that the people have an obligation to know?

A: Because even though the Constitution states that human life is the most important right, people are taking human life as provided for by the law.

Q: My impression is that you have not clarified your position on maintaining the death penalty. Are you in favor or opposed?

A: I cannot answer that. While I do have a personal opinion, I feel it would be presumptuous of me to state my view with a stance that would almost be like saying,“I am a human who knows about the death penalty” based on witnessing one execution.

Q: Article 36 of the Constitution bans cruel punishment while Article 18 bans involuntary servitude. Do you think hanging is cruel punishment? Doesn’t having correctional officers carry out an execution constitute involuntary servitude?

20250129-Interview-P2-L
Yoshikuni Noguchi explains why he has talked about his experience witnessing a hanging. (Emiko Arimoto)

A: For the reasons I just stated, I cannot answer that. All I am doing is talking about what I saw and what I felt. The people who heard what I had to say should make their own judgments.

Q: Excuse me for being insistent, but will you explain to me the reason for not wanting to talk about your experience witnessing an execution with your family?

A: There is no major reason. But it is only because it was a trying experience.

Q: There are only a handful of former correctional officers who have come out to speak about their experiences like you have. What should be done to make it possible for more such officers to talk about their experiences?

A: Because the nature of the work involves taking human life, I feel it is not something that is easy to talk about. Under the current situation of the Justice Ministry not publicizing the actual situation surrounding executions, there is also a tendency for correctional officers who carry out their duties faithfully to be hesitant to talk about the actual situation. I believe there is a need for the Justice Ministry to first of all further publicize the situation to the people.

Q: You served as the head lawyer of the minor who was arrested (in 1997) on suspicion of being a serial killer in Kobe. Is there anything that added to your thinking about the death penalty based on that experience?

A: I am now talking as a lawyer, but he wanted to be punished with the death sentence. Even if the death penalty was used to intimidate such a person, I have doubts as to whether the sentence would have had any controlling effect. If I am asked then what should we do, I feel the answer is that the experience of being loved by others and to have that person feel there is meaning in his or her existence will serve in a wider meaning as a deterrent.

Q: It has been about 40 years since you first talked about your experience. Has there been a change in how Japanese society views the death penalty?

A: My gut feeling is that there has been no change. Actually, as a lawyer who has handled many juvenile crimes, I feel there has been a heightening of a tendency to seek out even stricter punishment in comparison to that time.