Jury system poster › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

PHOTO BY TARO FUJIMOTO

Monday 06th October, 06:20 AM JST

A commuter at Kamiyacho station looks at a poster of Aya Ueto announcing the jury system which starts in Japan next May 21. The posters have been put up in subway and other stations in Tokyo to raise public awareness of the new system.

Latest 15 of 27 Total Comments Show All

nagoyait at 01:46 PM JST - 6th October

"may the lynching begin" - false. It's better than the current system of 3 judges deciding 99% of the time your guilty after 99% of the police who don't want to lose face and admit to being wrong after picking the first person who kinda looks like what somebody pointed out. Yeah it sucks like the America system where only lonely, jobless, daytime tv watchers serve but you come up with a better system.
chibaman at 01:55 PM JST - 6th October

But the poster is odd, the girl does not look like Aya at all.

Nah that's just cos the only time you ever see her is here on JT.

Japanese will now get to learn what a royal pain in the tush it is to get called for jury duty

It's a gift though! Why just a three-day trial will double their number of annual days off work. Sorry I won't be here for the rest of the week (withhold yelps of glee), just serving my country (there's nothing individualistic about my upcoming absence). Oh ok well do your best and see you next Monday (damn you're lucky, when am I going to get my get-out-of-jail-free card?)

Just watch out for those in the back row catching up on sleep, not focusing on the case but thinking about new ways to make themselves look productive in the office, or just cutting to the chase and asking the person next to them what verdict they are going for so everybody can be the same.
gogogo at 02:37 PM JST - 6th October

I hope it's a better system for people but I've seen how groups of Japanese people decide on things so I'm not overly confident in the system in Japan.
gamera at 02:50 PM JST - 6th October

If you get called to jury duty just do what I did. Stare at the ground and if they ask you a question just tell them your were not paying attention. That worked for me.
WilliB at 03:12 PM JST - 6th October

This means trial by the media. As bad as the current system is, this is worse. Doesn´t matter if Aya Ueto advertises it.
NeoJamal at 04:20 PM JST - 6th October

This means trial by the media. As bad as the current system is, this is worse. Doesn´t matter if Aya Ueto advertises it.

darn right, let's see how many potential jurors won't already have a view on the case formed by the time they are up for jury selection.
natosucks at 05:31 PM JST - 6th October

she is cute and with charisma...
chibaman at 06:35 PM JST - 6th October

I hope it's a better system for people but I've seen how groups of Japanese people decide on things so I'm not overly confident in the system in Japan.

Agreed. And does anyone have any idea how long it takes for 12 people to play paper, rock, scissors? These cases are gonna get backlogged pretty quickly.
norinrad21 at 07:07 PM JST - 6th October

That will show us foreigners not to bad mouth the Japanese, our days are numbered :p
skyguym42 at 09:25 PM JST - 6th October

The Japanese system has now put itself on a par with Saudi Arabia's in immunity from change....for 50 years they will be hailing this as a massive improvement. And it will be, they will be able to convict 99.9% of defendants with the cover of a useless jury system.

Imagine the scene....

"So, Mrs Housewife, you've heard the opinions of the 3 experienced judges, and the 32 policemen with a total of 145 years service to the public, and they all think the big stinky foreigner did it. Don't you agree? Now remember that if you have your own opinion, you're legally allowed to embarrass yourself and your husband by disagreeing....(oh, and we helpfully told his boss that you are on the jury and how happy he should be that someone connected with his company is going to help put away this scum)
mnemosyne23 at 10:26 PM JST - 6th October

SkyGuy: Amen!
spudman at 11:01 PM JST - 6th October

I trust the public to take this duty more seriously than you all think. Got to be good in the long run.
J_rock at 02:48 AM JST - 7th October

I'm not sure that most Japanese are ready for this. In my experience, it was often hard enough to solicit opinions in business meetings, in which everyone was an expert and should have had something to say. In addition, I can't imagine a lone juror holding out against all the others, even if they believe themselves to be correct. I'm skeptical about the prospects of a jury system in a society in which consensus and blind deference to authority are so prominent.
cracaphat at 05:07 AM JST - 7th October

We know she won't be serving.
skyguym42 at 08:02 AM JST - 7th October

It's not that they won't take it seriously, or that they won't go in with good intentions; it's that most Japanese ALWAYS follow what they are told is "best" by whatever authority figure happens to be nearby. The average citizen here is utterly incapable of going against a group of "experts" who are in highly-feared positions of power.

This is not out of malice on the jurors' part. In a few years when the first railroadee is freed after having been damned to a decade of misery, we'll hear genuine contrition and regret from the juror who was certain they were innocent, but wouldn't rock the boat. .

And I'm sure they will carefully "deselect" anyone with a history of independent thought. Union membership, political activism, blogging or petition-signing will likely keep you off a jury. Can't have "troublemakers" making the past system look bad by suddenly releasing more defendants.

ase.