List of executions in Japan explained

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

NameAgeSexDatePlaceCrimeVictim(s)Minister
1Seikichi Kondo55M26 March 1993SendaiMultiple murders2Masaharu Gotoda
2Shujiro Tachikawa62MOsakaMultiple murders2
3Tetsuo Kawanaka48MOsakaMultiple murders3
4Tadao Kojima61M26 November 1993SapporoMultiple murders3Akira Mikazuki
5Yukio Seki47MTokyoSingle murder1
6Hideo Deguchi70MOsakaMultiple murders2
7Toru Sakaguchi56MOsaka
8Yukio Ajima44M1 December 1994TokyoMultiple murders3Isao Maeda
9Kazumi Sasaki66MSendaiMultiple murders*2
10Eiji Fujioka40M26 May 1995OsakaMultiple murders2
11Fusao Suda54MTokyoSingle murder1
12Shigeho Tanaka69MTokyoSingle murder1
13Shuji Kimura45M21 December 1995NagoyaSingle murder1Hiroshi Miyazawa
14Naoto Hirata63MFukuokaMultiple murders2
15Tokujirou Shinohara68MTokyoMultiple murders*2
16Yoshiaki Sugimto49M11 July 1996FukuokaSingle murder1Ritsuko Nagao
17Kazumi Yokoyama43MFukuoka
18Mikio Ishida48MTokyoMultiple murders2
19Yoshihito Imai55M20 December 1996TokyoMultiple murders3Isao Matsuura
20Mitsunari Hirata60MTokyoMultiple murders2
21Satoru Noguchi50MTokyo
22Yasumasa Hidaka54M1 August 1997Sapporo Multiple murders7
23Nobuko Hidaka51FSapporo
24Hideki Kanda43MTokyoMultiple murders3
25Norio Nagayama48MTokyoMultiple murders4
26Masahiro Muratake54M25 June 1998FukuokaMultiple murders3Kokichi Shimoinaba
27Yukihisa Takeyasu66MFukuokaMultiple murders*1
28Shinji Shimazu66MTokyoMultiple murders*1
29Masamichi Ida56M19 November 1998NagoyaMultiple murders3Shozaburo Nakamura
30Tatsuaki Nishio61MNagoyaSingle murder1
31Akira Tsuda59MHiroshimaSingle murder1
32Masashi Satou62M10 September 1999TokyoMultiple murders*1Takao Jinnouchi
33Katsutoshi Takada61MSendaiMultiple murders*1
34Tetsuyuki Morikawa69MFukuokaMultiple murders*2
35Teruo Ono62M17 December 1999FukuokaMultiple murders*1Hideo Usui
36Kazuo Sagawa48MTokyoMultiple murders2
37Kiyotaka Katsuta52M30 November 2000NagoyaMultiple murders8Okiharu Yasuoka
38Takashi Miyawaki57MNagoyaMultiple murders3
39Kunikatsu Oishi55MFukuokaMultiple murders3
40Toshihiko Hasegawa51M27 December 2001NagoyaMultiple murders3Mayumi Moriyama
41Kojiro Asakura66MTokyoMultiple murders5
42Ryuya Haruta36M18 September 2002FukuokaSingle murder1
43Yoshiteru Hamada51MNagoyaMultiple murders*3
44Sinji Mukai42M12 September 2003OsakaMultiple murders3
45Sueo Shimazaki59M14 September 2004FukuokaMultiple murders3Daizo Nozawa
46Mamoru Takuma40MOsakaMultiple murders8
47Susumu Kitagawa58M16 September 2005OsakaMultiple murders2Chieko Nono
48Hiroaki Hidaka44M25 December 2006HiroshimaMultiple murders4Jinen Nagase
49Yoshimitsu Akiyama77MTokyoSingle murder1
50Yoshio Fujinami75MTokyoMultiple murders2
51Michio Fukuoka64MOsakaMultiple murders3
52Yoshikatsu Oda59M27 April 2007FukuokaMultiple murders2
53Masahiro Tanaka42MTokyoMultiple murders4
54Kosaku Nada56MOsakaMultiple murders2
55Hifumi Takezawa69M23 August 2007TokyoMultiple murders3
56Kozo Segawa60MNagoyaMultiple murders2
57Yoshio Iwamoto62MTokyoMultiple murders2
58Seiha Fujima47M7 December 2007TokyoMultiple murders5Kunio Hatoyama
59Hiroki Fukawa42MTokyoMultiple murders2
60Noboru Ikemoto75MOsakaMultiple murders3
61Masahiko Matsubara63M1 February 2008OsakaMultiple murders2
62Takashi Mochida65MTokyoMultiple murders*1
63Keishi Nago37MFukuokaMultiple murders2
64Kaoru Okashita61M10 April 2008TokyoMultiple murders2
65Masahito Sakamoto41MTokyoSingle murder1
66Katsuyoshi Nakamoto64MOsakaMultiple murders2
67Masaharu Nakamura61MOsakaMultiple murders2
68Tsutomu Miyazaki45M17 June 2008TokyoMultiple murders4
69Yoshio Yamasaki73MOsakaMultiple murders2
70Shinji Mutsuda37MTokyoMultiple murders2
71Yoshiyuki Mantani68M11 September 2008OsakaMultiple murders*1Okiharu Yasuoka
72Mineteru Yamamoto68MOsakaMultiple murders2
73Isamu Hirano61MTokyoMultiple murders*2
74Michitoshi Kuma70M28 October 2008FukuokaMultiple murders2Eisuke Mori
75Masahiro Takashio55MSendaiMultiple murders2
76Yukinari Kawamura44M28 January 2009NagoyaMultiple murders2
77Tetsuya Sato39MNagoya
78Shojiro Nishimoto32MTokyoMultiple murders4
79Tadashi Makino58MFukuokaMultiple murders*1
80Hiroshi Maeue40M28 July 2009OsakaMultiple murders3
81Yukio Yamaji25MOsakaMultiple murders*2
82Chen Detong41MTokyoMultiple murders3
83Kazuo Shinozawa59M28 July 2010[1] TokyoMultiple murders6Keiko Chiba
84Hidenori Ogata33MTokyoMultiple murders2
85Yasuaki Uwabe48M29 March 2012[2] HiroshimaMultiple murders5Toshio Ogawa
86Tomoyuki Furusawa46MTokyoMultiple murders3
87Yasutoshi Matsuda44MFukuokaMultiple murders2
88Junya Hattori40M3 August 2012[3] TokyoSingle murder1Makoto Taki
89Kyozo Matsumura31MOsakaMultiple murders2
90Sachiko Eto65F27 September 2012[4] SendaiMultiple murders6
91Yukinori Matsuda39MFukuokaMultiple murders2
92Masahiro Kanagawa29M21 February 2013[5] TokyoMultiple murders2Sadakazu Tanigaki
93Keiki Kano62MNagoyaMultiple murders*1
94Kaoru Kobayashi44MOsakaSingle murder1
95Katsuji Hamasaki64M26 April 2013[6] TokyoMultiple murders2
96Yoshihide Miyagi56MTokyo
97Tokuhisa Kumagai73M12 September 2013[7] TokyoSingle murder1
98Mitsuo Fujishima55M12 December 2013[8] TokyoMultiple murders2
99Ryoji Kagayama63MOsakaMultiple murders2
100Masanori Kawasaki68M26 June 2014[9] OsakaMultiple murders3
101Mitsuhiro Kobayashi56M29 August 2014[10] SendaiMultiple murders5
102Tsutomu Takamizawa59MTokyoMultiple murders3
103Tsukasa Kanda44M25 June 2015[11] NagoyaSingle murder1Yōko Kamikawa
104Sumitoshi Tsuda63M18 December 2015[12] SendaiMultiple murders3Mitsuhide Iwaki
105Kazuyuki Wakabayashi39MTokyoMultiple murders2
106Yasutoshi Kamata75M25 March 2016[13] OsakaMultiple murders5
107Junko Yoshida56FFukuokaMultiple murders2
108Kenichi Tajiri45M10 November 2016[14] FukuokaMultiple murders2Katsutoshi Kaneda
109Masakatsu Nishikawa61M13 July 2017[15] OsakaMultiple murders4
110Koichi Sumida34MHiroshimaSingle murder1
111Teruhiko Seki44M19 December 2017[16] TokyoMultiple murders4Yōko Kamikawa[17]
112Kiyoshi Matsui69MTokyoMultiple murders3
113Shoko Asahara63M6 July 2018[18] TokyoMultiple murders29
114Seiichi Endo58MTokyo
115Masami Tsuchiya53MTokyo
116Tomomitsu Niimi54MOsaka
117Yoshihiro Inoue48MOsaka
118Tomomasa Nakagawa55MHiroshima
119Kiyohide Hayakawa68MFukuoka
120Satoru Hashimoto51M26 July 2018[19] Tokyo
121Yasuo Hayashi60MSendai
122Kenichi Hirose54MTokyo
123Toru Toyoda50MTokyo
124Masato Yokoyama54MNagoya
125Kazuaki Okazaki57MNagoya
126Keizo Okamoto60M27 December 2018[20] OsakaMultiple murders2Takashi Yamashita
127Hiroya Suemori67MOsaka
128Koichi Shoji64M2 August 2019[21] TokyoMultiple murders2
129Yasunori Suzuki50MFukuokaMultiple murders3
130Wei Wei40M26 December 2019[22] FukuokaMultiple murders4Masako Mori
131Yasutaka Fujishiro65M21 December 2021[23] OsakaMultiple murders7Yoshihisa Furukawa
132Tomoaki Takanezawa54MTokyoMultiple murders2
133Mitsunori Onogawa44MTokyo
134Tomohiro Katō39M26 July 2022[24] TokyoMultiple murders7
The number of people executed in Japan since 1993
19931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012
726646532212149157207
20132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026202720282029203020312032
833341530310
Note: Inmates noted with a * were sentenced to death for murder(s) committed while on parole for another murder

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Japan hangs two death row inmates . bbc.com . 28 July 2010.
  2. News: Three hanged; executions are first since '10 . japantimes.co.jp . 30 March 2012.
  3. News: Japan hangs death-row inmates. iol.co.za. 3 August 2012.
  4. News: Japanese Cult Leader, Sachiko Eto, Executed By Hanging, First Woman To Be Executed Since 1997 . theglobaldispatch.com . 28 September 2012.
  5. News: 3 death-row convicts executed in Japan . asiaone.com . 22 February 2013 .
  6. News: Japan executes two Yakuza gangsters for shooting rivals . straitstimes.com . 26 April 2013 .
  7. News: Japan executes 73-year old man, 6th under Abe's administration . japandailypress.com . 12 September 2013 . 26 July 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160403212752/http://japandailypress.com/japan-executes-73-year-old-man-6th-under-abes-administration-1235810/ . 3 April 2016 . dead .
  8. News: Japan hangs two criminals; Abe's execution count stands at eight . www.tokyoweekender.com . 13 December 2013.
  9. News: Japan carries out first execution of 2014 . business-standard.com . 26 June 2014 .
  10. News: Takefuji arsonist, ex-yakuza hanged for eight murders . japantimes.co.jp . 29 August 2014.
  11. News: 25 June 2015 . ja:「闇サイト殺人事件」の神田司死刑囚の死刑執行 第3次安倍内閣で初 . Execution of death row inmate Tsukasa Kanda for "dark site murders" - the first execution under the Third Abe Cabinet. . https://www.sankei.com/article/20150625-NYE3FOOZ2JINZC2VMQC2HZX7WE/ . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220928183300/https://www.sankei.com/article/20150625-NYE3FOOZ2JINZC2VMQC2HZX7WE/ . 28 September 2022 . . ja.
  12. News: Japan hangs two murderers in first jury-trial executions . nypost.com . 18 December 2015.
  13. News: Japan sends two more inmates to the gallows . japantimes.co.jp . 25 March 2016.
  14. News: Japan: Man hanged as secretive executions continue . Amnesty International . 11 November 2016.
  15. News: Two convicted killers executed, including one seeking a retrial . 13 July 2017.
  16. News: Japan: Two hanged as secretive executions continue. Amnesty International. 19 December 2017.
  17. News: V Japonsku za premiéra Šinza Abeho popravili 21 ľudí. Aktuality.sk. Ringier Axel Springer Slovakia, a.s.. 19 December 2017. Bratislava, Slovakia. Slovak.
  18. News: AUM Shinrikyo cult founder Asahara, 6 ex-followers executed at once. 6 July 2018. 26 July 2018. Mainichi Daily News.
  19. News: Japan hangs all 6 remaining Aum death row inmates. Japan Today. 26 July 2018. 26 July 2018.
  20. Web site: Two Japanese death row inmates executed over 1988 robbery-murders of Cosmo Research president and employee. 27 December 2018.
  21. Web site: Japan hangs 2 death-row inmates, 1st executions this year. 2 August 2019. 2 August 2019.
  22. News: Chinese man executed for killing family of four in Fukuoka. https://web.archive.org/web/20210225025417/https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201912260033.html. 25 February 2021.
  23. Web site: Japan carries out first executions under PM Fumio Kishida. 21 December 2021. 21 December 2021. South China Morning Post. https://archive.today/20220426081242/https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3160495/japan-carries-out-first-executions-under-pm-fumio-kishida. 26 April 2022.
  24. Web site: Assailant in Tokyo's Akihabara fatal rampage executed . The Japan Times . 26 July 2022.