Trial by Shy Jury

This is one of hundreds of 60-second radio spots created by the Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) for Kansas Public Radio (KPR). The purpose of this outreach program is to introduce the people of Kansas to the culture and current issues of East Asia.Broadcast Transcript: From a criminal justice system which encouraged offenders to ask their best friends to behead them, Japan is poised to step into a new era: one of trial by jury. In order to accomplish this by 2009, Japanese people are training by watching "12 Angry Men" and staging mock trials to help the people overcome a deep cultural aversion to expressing their opinions and questioning authority. At a recent mock trial, when the judge asked the jury their thoughts on whether the criminal was guilty, a full 14 seconds went by with no response. To give you an idea of just how long that is, we'll end here, a mere 9 seconds before time is up ... #ceas #hacker #japan #tsutsu