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The Asian Criminological Society 12th Annual Conference (ACS2020), hosted by Ryukoku University, was held online for four days from June 18 to 21, 2021. The purpose of the conference, the second of its kind to be held in Japan after the 2014 Osaka conference, was to promote the growth of criminology in Asia and Oceania, and to promote academic exchange with advanced regions of criminology such as the United States and Europe.
>> ACS2020 Program　https://acs2020.org/program.html
The overall theme of the conference is "Crime and Punishment under Asian Cultures: Tradition and Innovation in Criminology". The aim was to promote understanding of the social systems and culture and measures against crime and delinquency in Japan, which is said to be "the country with the least crime in the world".

The following is a summary of the Plenary Session with Q&A Session, which was held live streaming at the conference.

Summary of the Q&A Session

Question 1: Do you think that prison chaplains should play a more active and significant role in the campaign to abolish the death penalty in Japan? If so, what do they need to do in order to play a meaningful role?
Answer 1: It is true that prison chaplains can help in the effort to abolish the death penalty in Japan. However, it is very difficult for them to play a meaningful role in the campaign to abolish the death penalty. If a chaplain makes political statements, he or she may be banned by the authorities from contacting inmates. Most chaplains refrain from making political statements in order to remain involved with the inmates. In this sense, the prison chaplains face a big dilemma.

Question 2: In watching the movie "Deadman Walking," I noted that Sister Prejean was very active in speaking about and acting on the issue of the death penalty. Why are Japanese counselors so reluctant to speak or act in a legal or political manner?
Answer 2: The Japanese Constitution stipulates a strict separation of religion and state. Therefore, if a chaplain is involved in activities to abolish the death penalty, the prison will claim that he or she is violating this constitutional principle. If chaplains get involved in political activities, they will be abandoning inmates who are really seeking moral relief. Keiko Horikawa's "Kyokaishi" (Kodansha, 2014) is based on an interview with real-life chaplains to  death row inmates. Fuso Watanabe depicts how stressful a job it is to be a chaplain to death row inmates. Every chaplain to death row inmates must feel a great burden.

Question 3: There seems to be a gap between the official manuals of each religious sect and the actual activities of the chaplains in prisons. I would like to know if you know of any efforts to bridge this gap.
Answer 3: I am not aware of any organized effort to create a new manual that comprehensively reflects what is actually being done in the field. Each chaplain works in his or her own way. Education for the improvement of indoctrination is usually said to be teaching for good guidance. For example, "If you do bad things, bad things will come back to you as retribution. Because you have sinned, you are in prison as payback for your evil karma. Bad karma can be eliminated by conversion. This is the traditional and typical story of karma. However, Miyoko Fukai, the prison chaplain introduced in the report, said, "I often work with people with intellectual disabilities. In order to teach those who do not have the ability to learn easily, the educational penalty system model does not work well. The chaplains are trying to solve structural problems within the walls by being kind to those who have spilled over from the social safety net.

Question 4: Do inmates have to disclose their religious beliefs to the public when they are incarcerated in a penal institution?
Answer 4: Visits to the chaplain are not compulsory, but are conducted when requested by an inmate. There are many reasons why inmates want to meet with them, including the wish to receiving counseling, and because the chaplain’s activities overlap with other workshops. Before World War II, it was mandatory for prisoners to receive religious teachings. All the chaplains were monks of the Hongwanji school of the Jodo Shinshu sect in the East and West, and they were civil servants. Buddhism in Japan is diverse and there are many different sects, but the largest traditional Buddhist sect is Jodo Shinshu. Many Westerners have an image of Japanese Buddhism as Zen Buddhism. The most politically and culturally influential Buddhist sect in modern Japan has been Jodo Shinshu, especially from around 1900 to 1945, when the Honpa Hongwanji and Otani sects of Jodo Shinshu dominated the prison ministry.

Question 5: Please explain "karmic connection".
Answer 5: The concept of "karma" is well known in the West. The title of my upcoming book is "Karma and Punishment". This title reminds me of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment". Although "crime" and "karma" seem similar, I use the concept of "karma" in the book to explain how chaplains develop and institutionalize these two conflicting missions. In official documents and the like, chaplains use a "karmic" discourse. However, in private conversations, they often use the expression "karmic connection" rather than talking of "good (or bad) karma" or "cause and effect". This can be seen as a resistance to top-down, narrowly defined, one-sided impositions. In the West, Christian chaplains often use the discourse of "spiritual care," which is not officially used in Japan, even though something similar was sometimes mentioned in the interviews. I believe that Japanese chaplains have their own concept of "Mental Healthcare."
With this in mind, I did not use Western concepts in the title of my book, but used the Japanese word "karma," which comes from Japanese Buddhism.

Question 6: It seems to me that Christian chaplains deny the theology of "karma".
Answer 6: There is no movement to deny the "karma" story in Japanese prisons today. In Japan, with the exception of a few pioneers from the Meiji period to the early Showa period, Christian chaplains generally did not appear until after the war. Christian chaplains do not base their teachings on the idea of karma, but they do use the metaphor of "karmic connection". Since that is a common expression used in daily conversation rather than a religious one, Christian chaplains use it as one of their everyday terms.

Question 7: Will theology continue to be practiced as part of rehabilitation in Japan?
Answer 7: Indeed, Japan, like the West, is becoming a non-religious society. However, the Chaplain program continues to exist as part of the prison system, and the 2017 edition of the ”Chaplain Manual” (edited by the Chaplain Manual Editorial Committee) describes "karma," "purification," and "correction" in the same way as the previous edition, which is somewhat anachronistic. However, the discourse of "Mental healthcare" is becoming more popular in Japan, and if chaplains start using this discourse, the theology will probably change. Prisons in Japan are aging. The real prisons are full of people who have fallen through the social safety net and have nowhere else to go. It does not make much sense to talk to them with a focus on the doctrine of "karma.” In fact, that is what the teachings say.

Question 8: Are chaplains active during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Answer 8: I talked to the Japan Federation of Chaplains, and was told that everything has stopped. There is no face-to-face visitation, although correspondence is still going on. The penitentiary seems to be limiting the number of visits because many elderly inmates are at high risk of infection.

[Reference]
https://www.waterstones.com/book/karma-and-punishment/adam-j-lyons/9780674260153
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karma-Punishment-Chaplaincy-Harvard-Monographs/dp/0674260155
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Adam-J-Lyons/dp/0674260155/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Karma+and+Punishment%3A+Prison+Chaplaincy+in+Japan&qid=1624157388&sr=8-1

The Asian Criminological Society 12th Annual Conference (ACS2020), hosted by Ryukoku University, was held online for four days from June 18 to 21, 2021. The purpose of the conference, the second of its kind to be held in Japan after the 2014 Osaka conference, was to promote the growth of criminology in Asia and Oceania, and to promote academic exchange with advanced regions of criminology such as the United States and Europe.
>> ACS2020 Program　https://acs2020.org/program.html
The overall theme of the conference is "Crime and Punishment under Asian Cultures: Tradition and Innovation in Criminology". The aim was to promote understanding of the social systems and culture and measures against crime and delinquency in Japan, which is said to be "the country with the least crime in the world".

The following is a summary of the Plenary Session with Q&A Session, which was held live streaming at the conference.

Summary of the Q&A Session

Question 1: Some people in Japan and elsewhere are addicted to conspiracy theories such as QAnon. What do you think about conspiracy theories? What are some ways to counter them?
Answer 1: I think that conspiracy theories and their growing influence on social networking services are issues that we should be concerned about, but I believe that only a limited number of people fall for such things. I don't think we need to worry too much about it. I think the only way to fight it is to communicate the facts properly.

Question 2: Is there a possibility that populism will rise again after the pandemic?
Answer 2: Although this remains a concern, but both Trump and Bolsonaro have failed to take action against COVID-19 and are gradually losing support. As in Japan, until the pandemic, no one knew the names of the public health experts. But now, everyone knows who they are. I think people are starting to value the opinions of experts more than the government, because they are telling the truth and trying to fight the crisis correctly. In New Zealand, there is also a growing trust that the government will listen to the experts and act accordingly. As a result, support for far-right parties has declined significantly.

Question 3: In Japan, the feud between the government (Prime Minister) and the experts has become a major problem. They do not seem to trust each other. Particularly in the case of the Olympic Games (TOKYO 2020), the government seems to be ignoring the opinions of experts, and is pushing ahead with the event, which makes many people feel uneasy. I think this is where the populists can make inroads.
Answer 3: It may seem a little too pessimistic, but this could be a possibility. However, looking at public opinion polls in developed countries in Europe and the U.S., we see that while the public is cautious about lifting lockdowns, the government is more insistent about lifting them, which is the exact opposite of what we would expect during a populist era. This suggests that the public is more sober-minded, and is placing more weight on the opinions of experts than the government. In that light, we can be a little more optimistic.

Question 4: I am sure you have heard Professor Garland's lecture, the content of which has much in common with Professor Pratt's lecture. Professor Garland said that pandemics help experts gain social status and public trust, so that the public is properly educated and a good form of populism is created. What did you think about his lecture?
Answer 4: His talks are always thought-provoking. It was interesting to hear him speak today about the potential for expert science-based opinion to guide public opinion in the right direction. With the pandemic crisis, public health experts suddenly came to the public's attention and won the public's trust by presenting unshakable common knowledge based on science. However, public health has a long history of contributing to society through its scientific findings. In contrast, criminology has a short history. It may not be so easy to win the trust of the public in the same way as the public health experts. If we compare the level of trust in doctors and police officers, the difference seems obvious. However, the situation is not impossible. Professor Garland also said that it is important to know what kind of story you are telling the public. We will need the help of journalists to educate the public. However, several criminologists have tried to do so, but without much success. As Professor Maruna mentioned in his lecture yesterday, we need a social movement approach. In New Zealand, the government has heeded campaigns by young people, albeit on a limited basis. When I published "Penal Populism," I was invited to speak to various journalists and politicians, and since they too were influenced by populism, I did not feel that my talk had that much of an effect on them. However, we may have been able to influence the thinking of young people to a certain extent. If anything, my other book, "Contrasts in Punishment (2013)" may have been more influential. I think it was meaningful that the country where government officials go to learn (by inspection) has changed from the US to Scandinavia.

Question 5: The pandemic has a clear target: the virus. It is possible to distinguish between the virus and the people who carry it and spread it. In criminology, the target is the person who commits the crime, and I think the problem is that it is difficult to separate the person from the cause of the crime. What are your thoughts on this?
Answer 5: Exactly. Viruses are a real risk and all people are exposed to them, but crime is not. I think people are also easier for populists to demonize than viruses.

Question 6: Penal Populism tends to support the death penalty, but do you think that this pandemic will have any impact on the movement to abolish the death penalty?
Answer 6: I think that the issue of the death penalty is more of a moral issue. In that sense, I think it should be seen as a different issue from Penal Populism. So I haven't really thought about the impact of the pandemic on the movement to abolish the death penalty.

Question 7: What do you think led to the abolition of the death penalty in New Zealand?
Answer 7: The death penalty was abolished in New Zealand in the 1960s, the same time as in the UK, but the number of executions had been decreasing even before that, and the last execution was in 1957. Rather than a major campaign, the abolition of the death penalty seems to have occurred as part of an overall trend. In Scandinavian countries, the death penalty was abolished after World War I. In societies with a high degree of homogeneity and a small social distance between people, the death penalty is probably not necessary in the first place. In New Zealand, far-right parties sometimes argue for the reinstatement of the death penalty, but they are not very influential.
Comment 7: The conditions in Scandinavia and other countries that have just been pointed out, such as a high degree of homogeneity and a decreasing crime rate, may apply to Japan, but in reality, the Japanese government is trying to keep the death penalty alive. On a different note, experts in the field of public health are in agreement. In contrast, the opinions of criminal justice experts on criminal policy are varied, and this may be another reason why the opinions of criminologists are not reflected in policy. In Japan, there are some lawyers who are in favor of the death penalty.

Question 8: Regarding the point about pandemics being an antidote to populism, while this may be true for Australia and New Zealand, it is not true for Asian countries, in my opinion. In Japan, of course, but also in the Philippines, there has been an increase in the number of killings by government officials outside the criminal justice process during the pandemic. Where do you think this difference comes from?
Answer 8: That's a difficult question. Of course, I think the detoxification effect varies from country to country. I think New Zealand is the most successful example. The Prime Minister took charge as a leader of 5 million people and appealed for social solidarity. This has been successful in reducing the spread of the disease. In order to function as an antidote, it is necessary to deepen social solidarity. As a matter of fact, it is a bit of a surprise to me that the infection has recently spread in Japan, a country that tends to maintain social distance from the rest of the world. As for the Philippines, since the tyrannical president has been in office since before the pandemic, I think the killings outside the judicial process are increasing as an extension of his attempt to play the strong man. So the impact of a pandemic will of course depend on the societal situation. In any case, I think that social solidarity is the key, and the issue is whether the government can lead people to it.

The Asian Criminological Society 12th Annual Conference (ACS2020), hosted by Ryukoku University, was held online for four days from June 18 to 21, 2021. The purpose of the conference, the second of its kind to be held in Japan after the 2014 Osaka conference, was to promote the growth of criminology in Asia and Oceania, and to promote academic exchange with advanced regions of criminology such as the United States and Europe.
>> ACS2020 Program　https://acs2020.org/program.html
The overall theme of the conference is "Crime and Punishment under Asian Cultures: Tradition and Innovation in Criminology". The aim was to promote understanding of the social systems and culture and measures against crime and delinquency in Japan, which is said to be "the country with the least crime in the world".

The following is a summary of the Plenary Session with Q&A Session, which was held live streaming at the conference.

Summary of the Q&A Session

Question 1: Why has there been no movement towards abolition of the death penalty in Asia?
Answer 1: Almost no European countries (with the exception of Belarus) have the death penalty. "Abolition of the death penalty" is a prerequisite for membership in the EU and for becoming a member state of the Council of Europe. Compared to Europe, Asian countries seem to lack incentives for abolishing the death penalty, as well as strong organizations to address the issue and lead the movement to abolish the death penalty across national borders. Incidentally aside, Brexit, which occurred in 2020, had no impact on policies regarding the death penalty.

Question 2: What are the differences between international organizations (Amnesty, EU, etc.) and domestic NGOs?
Answer 2: An international organization cannot lead an abolition movement on its own. There are two stages to how a transnational norm (abolition of the death penalty) is transformed, localized, and internalized: (1) rhetorical introduction, and (2) the process of localization and internalization. International organizations may be able to play a role in stage (1).

Question 3: What are some possible strategies for gaining support for the abolition of the death penalty in Asian countries?
Answer 3: In Asian countries, there are problems such as a lack of data, and rhetoric surrounding the "War on Drugs.'' Therefore, if we want to abolish the death penalty, it is important to enable universities and organizations to collect research and data, which can then be used for advocacy. Collecting as much data as possible through research and studies will make the advocacy more scientific (evidence-based).
On the issue of the death penalty, it is particularly important to look at drug policies in Asia. The Eleos Justice Institute at Monash University provides a platform for connecting various Asian human rights NGOs and conducting collaborative research. I would like to discuss this in the next session [Round Table 01], "Politics of Death Penalty Abolition and Retention in Asia" (June 21, 2021, 13:00-14:30 [Chair: Mai Sato]). I would also like to discuss this in my presentation, "Politics of Death Penalty Abolition and Retention in Asia" on June 21, 2021.
The discourse on "false convictions," which is used to move toward abolition of the death penalty, has been very influential in dissuading American citizens from supporting the death penalty. However, there is some doubt as to whether it will be a powerful discourse in Asian countries.

Question 4: In my discussions with students, I feel that "innocence" is very influential in advancing the debate on abolishing the death penalty. I believe that the discourse surrounding the abolition of the death penalty will change in the future, but at present, there is a lack of information on the death penalty in Japan. I believe that more information should be disseminated.
Answer 4: I agree that the discourse on "innocence" is influential in Japan. According to a public opinion survey on "Attitudes toward the Death Penalty System" conducted by the Cabinet Office, the problem of miscarriages of justice ("When there is a mistake in a trial, if the death penalty is imposed, it cannot be undone") is one of the top reasons why people want to abolish the death penalty. However, it can be said that this is because the criminal justice system is believed to be "safe" to some extent in Japan. In some Asian countries, people's trust in the criminal justice system is low. Even if the "innocence" argument is used in such countries, it is unlikely to be persuasive because people will think, "The criminal justice system is already broken, so it is natural that false convictions will occur."

Question 5: The reality is that sexual minorities are being "killed" by the state (government). In Japan, however, discussions linking sexual minorities to the death penalty and "killings by the state (government)" have been slow to develop.
Answer 5: In Japan, homosexuality is not criminalized in the first place. However, there seems to be little awareness that the debate over "LGBTQI" is a human rights issue. The Japanese government will probably say that the death penalty should not be applied to homosexual acts. It is meaningful with regard to discrimination against sexual minorities that Japan, a country with the death penalty, makes such a statement. It is more persuasive than a country that abolishes the death penalty appealing to a country that has the death penalty to abolish it. I think it is an effective way to reduce the number of countries with the death penalty.
In the following "State-Sanctioned Killing of Sexual Minorities" report, there is a report on the murder of Alireza Fazeli Monfe'ad in Iran (a case in which Ali, a homosexual, was murdered by his relatives).
Please refer to it.
https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/State-Sanctioned_Killing_of_Sexual_Minorities_Looking_Beyond_the_Death_Penalty/14069318/3

Keynote session by Prof. David Garland, "What's Wrong with Penal Populism?" As discussed in “What's wrong with ‘penal populism’? Politics, the public, and penological expertise”, criminologists do not have the power to influence government decisions, but they can research and provide evidence on the death penalty and penal system. The issue of sexual minorities and the death penalty is not fully theoretically explained or discussed at this stage, but it will be an important issue to be discussed at the meta-level in the future.

Question 6: In countries where it is difficult to collect information and data, how will you collect the information/data?
Answer 6: It is true that in some countries where the death penalty exists, even data collection is difficult and academic freedom is not guaranteed. However, researchers are making an effort and are collecting data in their own way. For example, activists in Bangladesh are collecting information on the number of "extrajudicial killings" (immediate executions). The details will be discussed in the next roundtable.
Please refer to the following website for more information.
https://www.monash.edu/law/research/eleos/events
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/in-conversation-with-professor-william-schabas-tickets-151594359811

The Asian Criminological Society 12th Annual Conference (ACS2020), hosted by Ryukoku University, was held online for four days from June 18 to 21, 2021. The purpose of the conference, the second of its kind to be held in Japan after the 2014 Osaka conference, was to promote the growth of criminology in Asia and Oceania, and to promote academic exchange with advanced regions of criminology such as the United States and Europe.
>> ACS2020 Program　https://acs2020.org/program.html
The overall theme of the conference is "Crime and Punishment under Asian Cultures: Tradition and Innovation in Criminology". The aim was to promote understanding of the social systems and culture and measures against crime and delinquency in Japan, which is said to be "the country with the least crime in the world".

The following is a summary of the Plenary Session with Q&A Session, which was held live streaming at the conference.

Summary of the Q&A Session

Question 1: The fact that you have interviewed prisoners in China is surprising in itself. Interviewing prisoners is not an easy task even in a country with a low authoritarian character. I would like you to explain how you gained access.
Answer 1: It was indeed a difficult survey and required a great deal of commitment, determination, hard work, and luck. I was a member of the Center for the Rule of Law organized by the local government in the study area, and this study was part of a larger one on the situation of migrant workers, which was funded by the local government. In addition, I had been involved in criminal justice for more than ten years before coming to the UK, and I was also a lawyer, so I had contacts and was trusted. Also, the prison had a women's facility, which was ideal for the research. However, the sample size had to be reduced, and the interviews were always tense because of the possibility that they might be stopped at any moment. Moreover, the prison was located in a remote mountainous area, and it was difficult to drive there at night when there was no lighting.

Question 2: You state that the pyramid scheme crimes of the two female inmates you interviewed were "investment activities". What were they investing in? Who created the organization? Were they punished?
Answer 2: The investment targets could be as diverse as health-related products, real estate, or even an island somewhere, but in reality, there was no investment activity going on, and the only purpose was to collect funds from new members. However, it was a normal company in appearance and internal organization, with a receptionist, marketing department, legal department, etc., and the female inmates were not aware that they were operating in an illegal organization at all. There is no established legal interpretation as to what kind of behavior is punishable, and if they engaged in any kind of managerial activity, they could be punished as organizers. Those at the top of the organization have been punished for fraud as well.

Question 3: The female inmates were not aware that their pyramid scheme activity was a crime, but is it possible that they chose this crime over other criminal activities?
Answer 3: The female inmates are first-time offenders, and their participation in the pyramid scheme was not a choice they made in comparison to other crimes, since they believed they had joined a normal company. They may have been aware that they had crossed some boundaries, but they were not aware that they had chosen to commit criminal acts.

Question 4: The two women have been convicted of recruiting new members into the organization, but how long is the sentence? In Japan, the penalty is imprisonment for not more than 3 years or a fine of not more than 3 million yen, or both, for those who established and operated the organization; imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than 300,000 yen for those who recruited as a business; and a fine of not more than 200,000 yen for those who simply recruited. Have they already been released? If they have been released, have they returned to their hometowns?
Answer 4: Under Chinese law, a person who organizes a pyramid scheme organization that results in serious circumstances, such as confinement or suicide, can be sentenced to a fixed term of five years or more and fined, while a person who merely solicited without such serious results can be sentenced to a fixed term of five years or less and fined. One of the women I interviewed was sentenced to six months, and the other to one year. I believe they have already been released, but I cannot get any information about them after their release. However, according to the interviews, they were very confident in their abilities and wanted to take a chance in the city instead of going back home. One in particular had even become a certified public accountant while working for her organization. The idea that one must succeed on one's own is truly neoliberal.

Question 5: It seems clear that the root of the problem lies in the family registration system. Japan also has a family registration system, but it is not a system that restricts social welfare or economic and social opportunities as in China. Has the Chinese government taken any measures to address this situation?
Answer 5: The Chinese government is aware of the problem, but since it does not have the power to help all migrant workers from rural areas, it only takes measures for those with a certain level of education and economic power. It does not cover the less-educated like these women or those from lower-ranked universities.

Question 6: Their behavior could be explained by strain theory, but if they learned the modus operandi, etc., after joining the organization, then differential association theory could also apply.
Answer 6: I think strain theory is more appropriate because these women were not aware that they were doing anything illegal at all. They thought that they were conducting the business of a legitimate company and had no knowledge of the criminal behavior.

Question 7: The reason for their actions might not be neoliberalism, but rather traditional Chinese culture.
Answer 7: The idea that economic success takes precedence over everything else is a product of post-1970’s reforms, and is not at all based on traditional culture. Today, neoliberal ideas are widely shared by the socially disadvantaged, who generally believe that it is their responsibility to improve their own situation and that they should not burden the government, and that they should accept their own unfavorable situation. It is highly unlikely that such a social structure will change in the near future.