Japan
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government
- CONSTITUTION
- May 3, 1947
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on the German model with Anglo-American influences; review of legislative acts by the Supreme Court
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, House of Councillors (Sangi-in) and House of Representatives (Shugi-in)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court (president appointed by the King on the recommendation of the Government, others appointed by the Government)
RELIGIONS
majority of Buddhists and Shintoists; minorities of Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox
From the country
- MAY 20, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE APPEAL REJECTED BY TOP COURT
the Japanese Supreme Court rejected a request from Wakayama woman Masumi Hayashi to amend a death sentence handed to her following her conviction for killing four people and poisoning 63 with arsenic-laced curry in 1998.
- MAY 12, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: HIGH COURT HANDS DEATH PENALTY TO FRAUD-RING LEADER
in Japan, the Tokyo High Court upheld a lower court death sentence given to the former leader of a fraud ring over beatings resulting in the deaths of four ring members in 2004.
MAY 12, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
Kazuo Okikura, 61, was sentenced to death for killing a wealthy woman and her
APRIL 21, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: WOMAN LOSES DEATH SENTENCE APPEAL
a Japanese woman found guilty of murder lost her appeal against a death sentence, a
- APRIL 6, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: COURT REJECTS RETRIAL APPEAL BY EX-POLICE OFFICER INVOLVED IN MURDER
a Japanese district court rejected an appeal for retrial filed by a former police officer whose death penalty was finalised over the kidnapping and murder of two people between 1986 and 1989, sources close to the matter said
- APRIL 6, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH ROW INMATE'S TELL-ALL BLOG OPENS DEBATE
Tetsuo Odajima, 65, who is on death row at the Tokyo Detention Center in Japan, is writing a blog, a rare insight into the inmates on Japan's secretive death row.
APRIL 2, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN MAY PROVIDE NOTICE FOR EXECUTION OF INMATES, ASAHI SAYS
Japanese death row inmates should be given at least one day’s notice of their impending execution, a government panel recommended after reviewing operations at the Tokyo Detention Center.
- MARCH 27, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPANESE MAN GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING ACQUAINTANCE IN THAILAND
a Japanese man was sentenced to death for killing a Japanese acquaintance in Thailand in December 2007.
- MARCH 25, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH PENALTY GIVEN TO MAN OVER MURDER-ROBBERY
the Tokyo High Court in Japan gave the death penalty to a 63-year-old man for robbing and murdering a couple in Saitama Prefecture, overruling a lower court decision that sentenced him to life in prison.
MARCH 24, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN UNDER FIRE FOR 'SECRETIVE, INHUMANE' DEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International renewed its calls for Japan to abolish its use of the death
- MARCH 19, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: COURT DISMISSES RETRIAL REQUEST FOR AUM FOUNDER ASAHARA
the Tokyo District Court in Japan dismissed a request for a retrial of AUM Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, who was sentenced to death for crimes including the deadly sarin gassing of Tokyo's subway system in 1995.
MARCH 19, 2009JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH PENALTY GIVEN TO FRAUD-RING MEMBER
the Tokyo High Court in Japan gave the death penalty to a billing-fraud group member