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: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
Kazuo Okikura, 61, was sentenced to death for killing a wealthy woman and her
- 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.
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 PENALTY
JAPAN 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 PENALTY
JAPAN 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