New Justice Minister Satsuki Eda openly opposes capital punishment but can't decide whether to perform his duty and sign off on executions or stick to his personal beliefs.
Eda became justice chief in Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Jan. 14 Cabinet reshuffle.
"I can't decide my position. That's why it's troubling," Eda, who once served as chairman of the Amnesty lawmakers group, which opposes the death penalty, said in a group interview Jan. 26.