Media given tour of gallows

Japan allowed local media a rare tour of Tokyo's main gallows in a bid to create more public awareness about capital punishment, which is carried out extremely secretly in the country.

But foreign press were barred from the visit despite repeated requests for access.

Japan, along with the United States, is one of the few industrialised countries that continues capital punishment.

All executions in Japan are carried out by hanging, and no media coverage of the event is permitted.

The media tour at the Tokyo Detention Centre came a month after Justice Minister Keiko Chiba - a one-time opponent of capital punishment - approved the July hangings of two inmates convicted of murder.