In Japan, the public does not receive advance notice of executions. After a person has been executed, the state sends news agencies a brief notification by fax. No "private persons" are allowed to attend hangings, and citizens and the media are not allowed to view the gallows even when it is not in use. Between the imposition of a death sentence and the execution, death-row inmates become "nonpersons" to the public, as there are severe restrictions on their visits and correspondence. Prosecutors in the Ministry of Justice select execution dates that minimize the possibility of protest and debate. The Ministry of Justice provides no explanation or justification for why it selects certain death-row inmates for execution while permitting others to continue living. Relatives of those executed are told of the death after it has occurred and are given 24 hours to collect the body; most bodies are left to the state to dispose. The secrecy of executions in Japan has evolved over the last 150 years. This article focuses on three historical periods of special significance: the "birth of secrecy" in the Meiji period (1867-1912), the effects of the American Occupation (1945-52), and the "acceleration of secrecy" in the decades that followed. Although government officials seldom explain or justify Japan's secrecy surrounding executions, prosecutors have on occasion stated that secrecy is in the offender's interest and the executioner's interest. Also, secrecy is said to be a Japanese cultural tradition. Japan's "secret" executions sacrifice the democratic values of transparency, accountability, and public debate about government policies. Notes, references