Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) - More than four in five Japanese support the use of the death penalty to deter crime, reflecting widespread worries about a recent spate of high-profile killings.

Since Japan lifted a four-year moratorium on capital punishment in 1993, it has drawn criticism from human rights groups and European nations that want an end to the practice.

The results from the Cabinet Office's poll in December showed that public backing for capital punishment, at 81.4 per cent, is its highest since the first survey in 1956, the national Asahi newspaper and other major publications said.

Only 6 per cent said they favoured abolishing the death penalty, according to the reports.

The previous post-war high was 79.3 per cent in favour in 1999, when the government last took the poll. At that time, 8.8 per cent of respondents were opposed.

A majority of respondents said the death penalty justly punished criminals found guilty of murder, discouraged would-be repeat offenders and prevented a sharp rise in violent crime.

Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, which has one of the lowest crime rates among advanced nations but has seen a steady rise in offences in recent years amid an economic slowdown.