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Capital punishment is a legal penalty for murder in Japan, and is applied in cases of multiple murder or aggravated single murder. Executions in Japan are carried out by hanging, and the country has seven execution chambers, all located in major cities.

After a four-year moratorium, executions resumed in 1993 and up to 15 have taken place almost each year since then. Thirteen of those executed in 2018, under former Minister of Justice and former think tank researcher Yōko Kamikawa, had taken part in the Tokyo subway sarin attack of 1995.

List of people executed since 1993

No. Name Age Sex Date Place Crime Victim(s) Minister
1 Seikichi Kondo 55 M 26 March 1993 Sendai Multiple murders 2 Masaharu Gotoda
2 Shujiro Tachikawa 62 M Osaka Multiple murders 2
3 Tetsuo Kawanaka 48 M Osaka Multiple murders 3
4 Tadao Kojima 61 M 26 November 1993 Sapporo Multiple murders 3 Akira Mikazuki
5 Yukio Seki 47 M Tokyo Single murder 1
6 Hideo Deguchi 70 M Osaka Multiple murders 2
7 Toru Sakaguchi 56 M Osaka
8 Yukio Ajima 44 M 1 December 1994 Tokyo Multiple murders 3 Isao Maeda
9 Kazumi Sasaki 66 M Sendai Multiple murders* 2
10 Eiji Fujioka 40 M 26 May 1995 Osaka Multiple murders 2
11 Fusao Suda 54 M Tokyo Single murder 1
12 Shigeho Tanaka 69 M Tokyo Single murder 1
13 Shuji Kimura 45 M 21 December 1995 Nagoya Single murder 1 Hiroshi Miyazawa
14 Naoto Hirata 63 M Fukuoka Multiple murders 2
15 Tokujirou Shinohara 68 M Tokyo Multiple murders* 2
16 Yoshiaki Sugimto 49 M 11 July 1996 Fukuoka Single murder 1 Ritsuko Nagata
17 Kazumi Yokoyama 43 M Fukuoka
18 Mikio Ishida 48 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
19 Yoshihito Imai 55 M 20 December 1996 Tokyo Multiple murders 3 Isao Matsuura
20 Mitsunari Hirata 60 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
21 Satoru Noguchi 50 M Tokyo
22 Yasumasa Hidaka 54 M 1 August 1997 Sapporo Multiple murders 7
23 Nobuko Hidaka 51 F Sapporo
24 Hideki Kanda 43 M Tokyo Multiple murders 3
25 Norio Nagayama 48 M Tokyo Multiple murders 4
26 Masahiro Muratake 54 M 25 June 1998 Fukuoka Multiple murders 3 Kokichi Shimoinaba
27 Yukihisa Takeyasu 66 M Fukuoka Multiple murders* 1
28 Shinji Shimazu 66 M Tokyo Multiple murders* 1
29 Masamichi Ida 56 M 19 November 1998 Nagoya Multiple murders 3 Shozaburo Nakamura
30 Tatsuaki Nishio 61 M Nagoya Single murder 1
31 Akira Tsuda 59 M Hiroshima Single murder 1
32 Masashi Satou 62 M 10 September 1999 Tokyo Multiple murders* 1 Takao Jinnouchi
33 Katsutoshi Takada 61 M Sendai Multiple murders* 1
34 Tetsuyuki Morikawa 69 M Fukuoka Multiple murders* 2
35 Teruo Ono 62 M 17 December 1999 Fukuoka Multiple murders* 1 Hideo Usui
36 Kazuo Sagawa 48 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
37 Kiyotaka Katsuta 52 M 30 November 2000 Nagoya Multiple murders 8 Okiharu Yasuoka
38 Takashi Miyawaki 57 M Nagoya Multiple murders 3
39 Kunikatsu Oishi 55 M Fukuoka Multiple murders 3
40 Toshihiko Hasegawa 51 M 27 December 2001 Nagoya Multiple murders 3 Mayumi Moriyama
41 Kojiro Asakura 66 M Tokyo Multiple murders 5
42 Ryuya Haruta 36 M 18 September 2002 Fukuoka Single murder 1
43 Yoshiteru Hamada 51 M Nagoya Multiple murders* 3
44 Sinji Mukai 42 M 12 September 2003 Osaka Multiple murders 3
45 Sueo Shimazaki 59 M 14 September 2004 Fukuoka Multiple murders 3 Daizo Nozawa
46 Mamoru Takuma 40 M Osaka Multiple murders 8
47 Susumu Kitagawa 58 M 16 September 2005 Osaka Multiple murders 2 Chieko Nono
48 Hiroaki Hidaka 44 M 25 December 2006 Hiroshima Multiple murders 4 Jinen Nagase
49 Yoshimitsu Akiyama 77 M Tokyo Single murder 1
50 Yoshio Fujinami 75 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
51 Michio Fukuoka 64 M Osaka Multiple murders 3
52 Yoshikatsu Oda 59 M 27 April 2007 Fukuoka Multiple murders 2
53 Masahiro Tanaka 42 M Tokyo Multiple murders 4
54 Kosaku Nada 56 M Osaka Multiple murders 2
55 Hifumi Takezawa 69 M 23 August 2007 Tokyo Multiple murders 3
56 Kozo Segawa 60 M Nagoya Multiple murders 2
57 Yoshio Iwamoto 62 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
58 Seiha Fujima 47 M 7 December 2007 Tokyo Multiple murders 5 Kunio Hatoyama
59 Hiroki Fukawa 42 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
60 Noboru Ikemoto 75 M Osaka Multiple murders 3
61 Masahiko Matsubara 63 M 1 February 2008 Osaka Multiple murders 2
62 Takashi Mochida 65 M Tokyo Multiple murders* 1
63 Keishi Nago 37 M Fukuoka Multiple murders 2
64 Kaoru Okashita 61 M 10 April 2008 Tokyo Multiple murders 2
65 Masahito Sakamoto 41 M Tokyo Single murder 1
66 Katsuyoshi Nakamoto 64 M Osaka Multiple murders 2
67 Masaharu Nakamura 61 M Osaka Multiple murders 2
68 Tsutomu Miyazaki 45 M 17 June 2008 Tokyo Multiple murders 4
69 Yoshio Yamasaki 73 M Osaka Multiple murders 2
70 Shinji Mutsuda 37 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
71 Yoshiyuki Mantani 68 M 11 September 2008 Osaka Multiple murders* 1 Okiharu Yasuoka
72 Mineteru Yamamoto 68 M Osaka Multiple murders 2
73 Isamu Hirano 61 M Tokyo Multiple murders* 2
74 Michitoshi Kuma 70 M 28 October 2008 Fukuoka Multiple murders 2 Eisuke Mori
75 Masahiro Takashio 55 M Sendai Multiple murders 2
76 Yukinari Kawamura 44 M 28 January 2009 Nagoya Multiple murders 2
77 Tetsuya Sato 39 M Nagoya
78 Shojiro Nishimoto 32 M Tokyo Multiple murders 4
79 Tadashi Makino 58 M Fukuoka Multiple murders* 1
80 Hiroshi Maeue 40 M 28 July 2009 Osaka Multiple murders 3
81 Yukio Yamaji 25 M Osaka Multiple murders* 2
82 Chen Detong 41 M Tokyo Multiple murders 3
83 Kazuo Shinozawa 59 M 28 July 2010[1] Tokyo Multiple murders 6 Keiko Chiba
84 Hidenori Ogata 33 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
85 Yasuaki Uwabe 48 M 29 March 2012[2] Hiroshima Multiple murders 5 Toshio Ogawa
86 Tomoyuki Furusawa 46 M Tokyo Multiple murders 3
87 Yasutoshi Matsuda 44 M Fukuoka Multiple murders 2
88 Junya Hattori 40 M 3 August 2012[3] Tokyo Single murder 1 Makoto Taki
89 Kyozo Matsumura 31 M Osaka Multiple murders 2
90 Sachiko Eto 65 F 27 September 2012[4] Sendai Multiple murders 6
91 Yukinori Matsuda 39 M Fukuoka Multiple murders 2
92 Masahiro Kanagawa 29 M 21 February 2013[5] Tokyo Multiple murders 2 Sadakazu Tanigaki
93 Keiki Kano 62 M Nagoya Multiple murders* 1
94 Kaoru Kobayashi 44 M Osaka Single murder 1
95 Katsuji Hamasaki 64 M 26 April 2013[6] Tokyo Multiple murders 2
96 Yoshihide Miyagi 56 M Tokyo
97 Tokuhisa Kumagai 73 M 12 September 2013[7] Tokyo Single murder 1
98 Mitsuo Fujishima 55 M 12 December 2013[8] Tokyo Multiple murders 2
99 Ryoji Kagayama 63 M Osaka Multiple murders 2
100 Masanori Kawasaki 68 M 26 June 2014[9] Osaka Multiple murders 3
101 Mitsuhiro Kobayashi 56 M 29 August 2014[10] Sendai Multiple murders 5
102 Tsutomu Takamizawa 59 M Tokyo Multiple murders 3
103 Tsukasa Kanda 44 M 25 June 2015[11] Nagoya Single murder 1 Yōko Kamikawa
104 Sumitoshi Tsuda 63 M 18 December 2015[12] Sendai Multiple murders 3 Mitsuhide Iwaki
105 Kazuyuki Wakabayashi 39 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
106 Yasutoshi Kamata 75 M 25 March 2016[13] Osaka Multiple murders 5
107 Junko Yoshida 56 F Fukuoka Multiple murders 2
108 Kenichi Tajiri 45 M 10 November 2016[14] Fukuoka Multiple murders 2 Katsutoshi Kaneda
109 Masakatsu Nishikawa 61 M 13 July 2017[15] Osaka Multiple murders 4
110 Koichi Sumida 34 M Hiroshima Single murder 1
111 Teruhiko Seki 44 M 19 December 2017[16] Tokyo Multiple murders 4 Yōko Kamikawa[17]
112 Kiyoshi Matsui 69 M Tokyo Multiple murders 3
113 Shoko Asahara 63 M 6 July 2018[18] Tokyo Multiple murders 29
114 Seiichi Endo 58 M Tokyo
115 Masami Tsuchiya 53 M Tokyo
116 Tomomitsu Niimi 54 M Osaka
117 Yoshihiro Inoue 48 M Osaka
118 Tomomasa Nakagawa 55 M Hiroshima
119 Kiyohide Hayakawa 68 M Fukuoka
120 Satoru Hashimoto 51 M 26 July 2018[19] Tokyo
121 Yasuo Hayashi 60 M Sendai
122 Kenichi Hirose 54 M Tokyo
123 Toru Toyoda 50 M Tokyo
124 Masato Yokoyama 54 M Nagoya
125 Kazuaki Okazaki 57 M Nagoya
126 Keizo Okamoto 60 M 27 December 2018[20] Osaka Multiple murders 2 Takashi Yamashita
127 Hiroya Suemori 67 M Osaka
128 Koichi Shoji 64 M 2 August 2019[21] Tokyo Multiple murders 2
129 Yasunori Suzuki 50 M Fukuoka Multiple murders 3
130 Wei Wei 40 M 26 December 2019[22] Fukuoka Multiple murders 4 Masako Mori
131 Yasutaka Fujishiro 65 M 21 December 2021[23] Osaka Multiple murders 7 Yoshihisa Furukawa
132 Tomoaki Takanezawa 54 M Tokyo Multiple murders 2
133 Mitsunori Onogawa 44 M Tokyo
134 Tomohiro Katō 39 M 26 July 2022[24] Tokyo Multiple murders 7
The number of people executed in Japan since 1993
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
7 2 6 6 4 6 5 3 2 2 1 2 1 4 9 15 7 2 0 7
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032
8 3 3 3 4 15 3 0 3 1 0 — — — — — — — — —

Note: Inmates noted with a * were sentenced to death for murder(s) committed while on parole for another murder

See also

References

  1. ^ "Japan hangs two death row inmates". bbc.com. 28 July 2010.
  2. ^ "Three hanged; executions are first since '10". japantimes.co.jp. 30 March 2012.
  3. ^ "Japan hangs death-row inmates". iol.co.za. 3 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Japanese Cult Leader, Sachiko Eto, Executed By Hanging, First Woman To Be Executed Since 1997". theglobaldispatch.com. 28 September 2012.
  5. ^ "3 death-row convicts executed in Japan". asiaone.com. 22 February 2013.
  6. ^ "Japan executes two Yakuza gangsters for shooting rivals". straitstimes.com. 26 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Japan executes 73-year old man, 6th under Abe's administration". japandailypress.com. 12 September 2013. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  8. ^ "Japan hangs two criminals; Abe's execution count stands at eight". www.tokyoweekender.com. 13 December 2013.
  9. ^ "Japan carries out first execution of 2014". business-standard.com. 26 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Takefuji arsonist, ex-yakuza hanged for eight murders". japantimes.co.jp. 29 August 2014.
  11. ^ https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASH6T358BH6TUTIL00F.html
  12. ^ "Japan hangs two murderers in first jury-trial executions". nypost.com. 18 December 2015.
  13. ^ "Japan sends two more inmates to the gallows". japantimes.co.jp. 25 March 2016.
  14. ^ "Japan: Man hanged as secretive executions continue". Amnesty International. 11 November 2016.
  15. ^ "Two convicted killers executed, including one seeking a retrial". 13 July 2017.
  16. ^ "Japan: Two hanged as secretive executions continue". Amnesty International. 19 December 2017.
  17. ^ "V Japonsku za premiéra Šinza Abeho popravili 21 ľudí". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). Bratislava, Slovakia: Ringier Axel Springer Slovakia, a.s. 19 December 2017.
  18. ^ "AUM Shinrikyo cult founder Asahara, 6 ex-followers executed at once". Mainichi Daily News. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  19. ^ "Japan hangs all 6 remaining Aum death row inmates". Japan Today. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  20. ^ "Two Japanese death row inmates executed over 1988 robbery-murders of Cosmo Research president and employee". 27 December 2018.
  21. ^ "Japan hangs 2 death-row inmates, 1st executions this year". 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  22. ^ "Chinese man executed for killing family of four in Fukuoka". Archived from the original on 25 February 2021.
  23. ^ "Japan carries out first executions under PM Fumio Kishida". South China Morning Post. 21 December 2021. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  24. ^ "Assailant in Tokyo's Akihabara fatal rampage executed". The Japan Times. 26 July 2022.
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