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
- FEBRUARY 2, 2006JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. DEATH PENALTY CONFIRMED FOR TSUTOMU MIYAZAKI
Japan's top court confirmed the death penalty for Tsutomu Miyazaki, a man who abducted and murdered four small girls. Miyazaki, 43, had admitted killing the four girls, aged between 4 and 7, in and around Tokyo in the late 1980s.
- JANUARY 17, 2006JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING CHILDREN
Japan's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Tsutomu Miyazaki, a man convicted of killing and mutilating girls in a series of grisly crimes that horrified Japan in the late 1980s.
- JANUARY 1, 2006JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japanese criminal law envisages the death penalty for 13 different...
Japanese criminal law envisages the death penalty for 13 different crimes but in practice death sentences are only handed down for murder.
- DECEMBER 29, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. NO. OF DEATH ROW INMATES HITS 78, SIGN OF TOUGHENING PENALTIES
it was reported that the number of inmates in Japan whose death sentences had been finalized stood at 78, the largest in 37 years.
- DECEMBER 22, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TWO MURDERS
the Mito District Court, Japan, sentenced a 44-year-old man to death for killing and robbing two elderly female acquaintances in Ibaraki Prefecture in January 2005.
- DECEMBER 15, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. DOG TRAINER HANDED DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING 5 PEOPLE WITH MUSCLE RELAXANTS
Yoshinori Ueda, a man convicted of killing five people in 1992 and 1993 using muscle relaxants, was set to be executed after Japan’s Supreme Court rejected his appeal. Ueda, 51, had been sentenced to death after being convicted of murder and abandoning th
- DECEMBER 6, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. LAWMAKERS PROPOSE ALTERNATIVE TO DEATH PENALTY
Japanese lawmakers opposed to the death penalty said they would propose mandatory life in prison for capital cases in a bid to dent overwhelming public support for capital punishment.
- DECEMBER 2, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
EUROPEAN UNION. JAPAN TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
the European Union renewed its call on Japan to abolish the death penalty.
- DECEMBER 1, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. HIGH COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR 60-YR-OLD MAN FOR MURDER
the Sapporo High Court, Japan, upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a 60-year-old man to death for killing a couple in Hokkaido in 1988.
- NOVEMBER 23, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR 'EXORCIST' WHO KILLED SIX
the Sendai High Court, Japan, upheld a death sentence against a woman calling herself an exorcist for killing six of her followers by repeatedly beating them on the pretext of exorcising evil spirits.
- NOVEMBER 12, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. EX-GANGSTER GETS DEATH FOR FATALLY SHOOTING 2 AT CHIBA RESTAURANT
the Chiba District Court, Japan, sentenced former gangster Yoshihide Miyagi to death for fatally shooting two men at a restaurant in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture.
- NOVEMBER 11, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. DOOMSDAY GURU UNFIT FOR DEATH PENALTY: LAWYERS
lawyers for Shoko Asahara, the founder of the doomsday cult which carried out the deadly 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway, said they will submit a new medical report to prove he is mentally unfit for execution.