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
- DECEMBER 19, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
An appeal court upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced...
An appeal court upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a former newspaper deliveryman to death for murdering a woman and her elderly mother in Tokyo after they refused to lend him money
- DECEMBER 18, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Utsunomiya District Court sentenced to death a...
The Utsunomiya District Court sentenced to death a 35-year-old man for murdering his wife and an acquaintance in the late 1980s in Tochigi Prefecture
- DECEMBER 13, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
Presiding Judge Yoshimasa Kawabe of the Tokyo High...
Presiding Judge Yoshimasa Kawabe of the Tokyo High Court affirmed the Tokyo District Court's 1998 death sentence against Kazuaki Okazaki, 41, finding him guilty of killing in 1989 Yokohama lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, 33, his wife Satoko, 29, and their 1-yea
- DECEMBER 4, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
Shizuka Kamei, a former policy chief of the ruling...
Shizuka Kamei, a former policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and seven other lawmakers belonging to a group opposing capital punishment asked Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama not to carry out any further death sentences
- DECEMBER 3, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court upheld a death sentence for a man...
The Supreme Court upheld a death sentence for a man who killed four members of a family in 1992 in a murder-robbery when he was a minor
- NOVEMBER 20, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Osaka District Court sentenced Susumu Nakayama...
The Osaka District Court sentenced Susumu Nakayama a 53-year-old murderer to death for fatally stabbing Takemitsu Kikugawa, 37, his lover Minako Kobuchi, 40, a restaurant employee, on a street in Toyonaka in the Osaka prefecture, on February 19, 1998 with
- NOVEMBER 2, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
Shizuka Kamei, a former policy chief of the ruling...
Shizuka Kamei, a former policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was elected head of a group of 76 Diet members who want to abolish the death penalty in Japan
- OCTOBER 18, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japan must abolish the death penalty in order to eliminate...
Japan must abolish the death penalty in order to eliminate the possibility of people mistakenly being put to death on false charges, senior Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker Shizuka Kamei said
- OCTOBER 10, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Fukuoka High Court upheld a death penalty given...
The Fukuoka High Court upheld a death penalty given to a 63-year-old man for abducting and murdering two elementary school girls in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1992
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Osaka High Court upheld a death sentence against...
The Osaka High Court upheld a death sentence against a former gang leader for robbing and murdering a wealthy man and his daughter in Kobe and later burning their bodies in 1991
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court upheld a death sentence for a man...
The Supreme Court upheld a death sentence for a man who killed and robbed two workmates
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Kawasaki branch of Yokohama District Court sentenced...
The Kawasaki branch of Yokohama District Court sentenced a Chinese man to death for a murder-robbery in 1999 in which three Chinese were stabbed to death and another three injured