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
SEPTEMBER 13, 2021JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: GANG BOSS SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER GROUP MEMBERS ATTACKED CIVILIANS
A district court in Japan on 24 August 2021 sentenced the head of a gangster organization to death after its members killed one civilian and injured three others.
JULY 8, 2021JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF WIFE AND 5 KIDS
A 36-year-old man on 30 June 2021 was sentenced to death in Japan for killing his wife and five children at their home in Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 2017.
JULY 5, 2021JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: TOP COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR 'BLACK WIDOW' SERIAL KILLER
The Supreme Court on 29 June 2021 upheld the death sentence given to a 74-year-old woman dubbed the “black widow” for murdering her husband and two common-law partners with poison in western Japan between 2012 and 2013 to inherit money and escape debt.
JUNE 25, 2021JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRIVING TRUCK INTO ROAD CLEANERS IN FUKUSHIMA
A man convicted of killing two road cleaners in the Fukushima Prefecture town of Miharu in May last year by ramming into them with a truck was sentenced to death at the Koriyama branch of the Fukushima District Court on 24 June 2021.
JANUARY 6, 2021JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE FINALIZED FOR 'TWITTER KILLER'
The death sentence for a 30-year-old man dubbed Japan’s “Twitter killer” over the serial murders of nine people in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2017 was finalized on 5 January 2021, court officials said.
DECEMBER 29, 2020JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: NO DEATH PENALTIES CARRIED OUT IN 2020 FOR FIRST TIME IN 9 YEARS
There have been no executions of death row inmates in Japan throughout 2020, making it the first time in nine years where capital punishment was not carried out in the country.
DECEMBER 24, 2020JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: SUPREME COURT ALLOWS RETRIAL FOR ‘LONGEST’ DEATH ROW PRISONER
Japan’s highest court has upheld a ruling granting a retrial to a man described as the world’s longest-serving death row inmate.
DECEMBER 15, 2020JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERS OF NINE PEOPLE CONTACTED VIA TWITTER
Tokyo district court on 15 December 2020 sentenced a man to death for the 2017 murders of nine people, local media reported, ending a case that grabbed headlines in Japan with the culprit dubbed “Twitter killer” for contacting victims via the social media
DECEMBER 11, 2020JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE FOR 2018 MURDERS OF FIVE IN KAGOSHIMA
A court on 11 December 2020 sentenced a 41-year-old man to death for murdering five people in 2018 at a home in the prefecture of Kagoshima.
- OCTOBER 22, 2020JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: JUSTICE MINISTRY TO NOTIFY VICTIMS OF DEATH ROW EXECUTIONS
The Justice Ministry on 21 October 2020 introduced a system in which the executions of death row inmates are reported to victims of criminal cases via document or phone if they wish.
OCTOBER 19, 2020JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN ON DEATH ROW SINCE 1999 DIES AT 88
An 88-year-old man on death row since 1999 for committing three murders died of pneumonia on 17 October 2020 morning at the Tokyo Detention Center.
MARCH 31, 2020JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH PENALTY FINALIZED FOR 2016 SAGAMIHARA CARE HOME MASS MURDERER
The death sentence for a man who admitted to the 2016 mass murder of 19 mentally impaired people at a care home near Tokyo was finalized on 31 March 2020 after he withdrew his appeal the previous day.