Divya Delhi:  Japan's official survey found that over 80% of respondents support the death sentence, calling it "unavoidable," local media reported on Sunday.A government poll every five years found that capital punishment approval exceeded 80% for the fifth time, according to Kyodo News, a leading news portal. Capital penalty acceptance rose 2.3 points to 83.1% in the latest survey compared to 2019. At the same time, abolition support rose 7.5 points to 16.5%. Compassion for capital crime victims and their families was the main reason 66.2 percent supported the death penalty. 55.5 percent felt violent crimes should be punished with life, while 53.4% worried that abolishing capital punishment will increase atrocities. However, 71% of death penalty abolitionists cited irreparable incorrect convictions. If life imprisonment without parole is implemented, many say the death penalty should be eliminated, while others say it should stay. Kyodo News stated that the survey was conducted between October and December after 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada was acquitted in a 2024 retrial for a 1966 quadruple murder case after more than four decades on death row. Japan has executed 77 people since 2007, according to the Ministry of Justice. Japan hasn't executed anyone since July 2022. Only Japan and the US practice capital punishment in the G7. Capital punishment is widely supported in Japan, and abolishing it is rare.