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
- JUNE 2, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESSES JAPAN TO IMPROVE RIGHTS RECORD
Amnesty International called on Japan to abolish the death penalty and improve treatment of refugees and prisoners, saying its bid to join the UN Security Council put it under greater scrutiny.
- JUNE 1, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. CHINESE MAN IN FUKUOKA FAMILY MURDER APPEALS DEATH SENTENCE
Wei Wei, a Chinese national, appealed a district court ruling that sentenced him to death for his part in the murder in 2003 of a family of four in Fukuoka, Japan.
- MAY 24, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN WHO KILLED STEPSON, IN-LAWS
the Tokyo High Court upheld the death sentence for Tomoyuki Furusawa, a man convicted of murdering his 12-year-old stepson and the parents of his estranged wife in Yokohama in 2002.
- MAY 23, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. RETRIAL SOUGHT IN CASE OF PRISONER EXECUTED IN 1947 MURDER CASE
the family of Takeo Nishi, a man executed in 1975 over a murder in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture asked the Fukuoka High Court for a retrial of the case, saying he had been tortured into confessing, lawyers for the family said.
- MAY 20, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. CHINESE MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING FUKUOKA FAMILY
the Fukuoka District Court sentenced Wei Wei, a Chinese man, to death for his part in the murder in 2003 of a family of four in Fukuoka.
- MAY 15, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. 2 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2002 MURDERS, ROBBERY, ARSON
the Kokura Branch of the Fukuoka District Court, Japan, sentenced two men to death for murdering two people in January 2002.
- MAY 7, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. DEATH SENTENCE FOR EX-AUM CULTIST STANDS, 1ST IN AUM-RELATED CASES
the death sentence for Kazuaki Okazaki, a former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, was finalized after Japan’s Supreme Court rejected his plea to change the ruling.
- APRIL 27, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER-FOR-INSURANCE MONEY
the Hiroshima District Court, Japan, sentenced Kiyotaka Oyama, a former company president, to death for killing his stepfather and wife in the city of Hiroshima to obtain a total of 73 million yen in life insurance money.
- APRIL 20, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japan voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
Japan voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
- APRIL 18, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. NEWSPAPER DELIVERYMAN ASKS TO DIE SOON FOR GIRL'S MURDER
Kaoru Kobayashi, a Japanese newspaper deliveryman and serial paedophile, asked for the death penalty and voiced no remorse for drowning a young girl whose dead body he photographed for her mother to see.
- APRIL 9, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. DALAI LAMA CALLS FOR ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY
Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama called for the abolition of the death penalty. On the second day of a visit to Japan which had been condemned by China, the Dalai Lama told a crowd of hundreds in Tokyo that criminals should be treated with “
- APRIL 7, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. SUPREME COURT GIVES GO-AHEAD TO EXECUTE FIRST DOOMSDAY CULT MEMBER
Japan's Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Kazuaki Okazaki, a former officer of the Aum Supreme Truth doomsday cult, giving the green light for the first execution of a member of the sect that attacked the Tokyo subway with nerve gas in 1995.