Mai Sato examines public attitudes to the death penalty in Japan, focusing on knowledge and attitudinal factors relating to support for, and opposition to, the death penalty. She uses a mixed-method approach and mounts quantitative and qualitative surveys to assess Japanese death penalty attitudes. The author's main findings show that death penalty attitudes are not fixed but fluid. Information has a significant impact on reducing support for the death penalty while retributive attitudes are associated with support. This book offers a new conceptual framework in understanding the death penalty without replying on the usual human rights approach, which can be widely applied not just to Japan but to other retentionist countries.