Japan
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 1
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The death penalty is provided for by the Criminal Procedure...
- News items in the archive
- 739
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Japan is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 1 the year before. The archive holds 739 news items on Japan, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
AUGUST 21, 2026JapanDEATH PENALTYJapan: man executed over killing 5 people
- APRIL 7, 2026JapanDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Japanese citizen released
Shinnosuke Kawashima
MARCH 19, 2026JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: COURT RULES KYOANI KILLER'S WITHDRAWAL OF DEATH SENTENCE APPEAL WAS VALID
The Osaka High Court ruled on March 17, 2026 that a defendant's withdrawal of his appeal against a death sentence in the Kyoto Animation arson-murder case is valid.
MARCH 9, 2026JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: 87-YEAR-OLD MAN ON DEATH ROW FOR DOUBLE MURDER DIES IN DETENTION IN OSAKA
An 87-year-old man on death row for a double murder case more than four decades ago has died at the Osaka Detention House, Mainichi Broadcasting System reported on March 3, 2026.
FEBRUARY 22, 2026JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: COURT REJECTS RETRIAL FOR MAN EXECUTED FOR 1992 CHILD MURDERS
The Fukuoka High Court rejected an appeal on February 16, 2026 for a retrial for the 1992 murder of two 7-year-old girls in the city of Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture, for which a death row convict was executed.
FEBRUARY 5, 2026JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: COURT REJECTS RETRIAL REQUEST FOR EXECUTED MAN BELIEVED TO HAVE HAD LEPROSY
The Kumamoto District Court on January 28, 2026 rejected a retrial request from the family of a man with leprosy who was executed more than 60 years ago for a 1952 murder despite long claiming his innocence.
- FEBRUARY 3, 2026JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH ROW INMATE WHO BURIED 2 MEN ALIVE IN 2006 FOUND DEAD IN CELL
A death row inmate convicted of killing two people by burying them alive in Okayama Prefecture in western Japan in 2006, died on January 31, 2026, the Justice Ministry said, with suicide being suspected.
JANUARY 18, 2026JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: COURT REJECTS INMATES' CALLS TO HALT HANGING ON INHUMANE GROUNDS
A Japanese court rejected on January 16, 2026 three death-row inmates' demands against the state to halt their executions by hanging as an inhumane practice in violation of an international convention prohibiting cruel punishment.
OCTOBER 14, 2025JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN WHO KILLED FOUR IN GUN AND KNIFE ATTACK
A Japanese court on October 14, 2025 sentenced a 34-year-old man to death for murdering two women as they were out for a stroll and two policemen who responded to the scene of the attack in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, in 2023.
OCTOBER 9, 2025JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: FORMER DEATH ROW INMATE IWAO HAKAMATA FILES DAMAGES SUIT AGAINST GOVERNMENT
A Japanese man who was acquitted last year in a retrial over a 1966 quadruple murder case filed a lawsuit on October 9, 2025 seeking around 600 million yen ($3.9 million) in damages from the state and local authorities, his lawyers said.
JUNE 29, 2025JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: 'TWITTER KILLER' HANGED IN FIRST EXECUTION SINCE 2022
Japan executed on June 27, 2025 a man convicted of the 2017 serial murders of nine people near Tokyo, the government said, marking the country's first hanging since July 2022.
- JUNE 12, 2025JapanDEATH PENALTY
EX-MONGOLIA LEADER URGES JAPAN LAWMAKERS TO END DEATH PENALTY
A former Mongolian president known for abolishing his country's death penalty urged Japanese lawmakers in a recent interview to take the same step despite the public's continued support for executions.
- MARCH 25, 2025JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: EXONERATED PRISONER AWARDED $1.4M AFTER 46 YEARS SPENT ON DEATH ROW
A Japanese man wrongly convicted of murder who was the world’s longest-serving death row inmate has been awarded $1.4m in compensation, an official said on March 24, 2025.
- FEBRUARY 24, 2025JapanDEATH PENALTY
83.1% IN JAPAN SUPPORT DEATH PENALTY: GOV'T SURVEY
Japanese public support for the death penalty has exceeded 80% for the fifth consecutive time in a poll conducted by the Cabinet Office every five years, underscoring strong public backing for the system in the country.
- NOVEMBER 17, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN RULES OUT ENDING DEATH PENALTY DESPITE PANEL'S CALL FOR REVIEW
The Japanese government on November 14, 2024 ruled out abolishing the death penalty, rejecting calls by domestic legal experts for a review amid international pressure to end executions.
- OCTOBER 2, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTY
ABOLISHING JAPAN'S DEATH PENALTY ‘INAPPROPRIATE’: JUSTICE MINISTER
Newly appointed Justice Minister Hideki Makihara said on October 2, 2024 that abolishing the death penalty in Japan, where there have been no executions in over two years, would be "inappropriate" as the public largely considers it "unavoidable for heinou
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN ACQUITS LONGEST-SERVING DEATH ROW INMATE 56 YEARS AFTER MURDER CONVICTION
The world's longest-serving death row prisoner was acquitted by a Japanese court on September 26, 2024, more than half a century after his 1968 murder conviction.
- JULY 8, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER MURDER-ROBBERY
A 39-year-old man was sentenced to death on July 2, 2024 for murdering an elderly woman and her son and robbing them at her residence in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in 2020.
- APRIL 17, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH-ROW INMATES' LAWSUIT TARGETING SAME-DAY NOTIFICATIONS OF EXECUTIONS DISMISSED
The Osaka District Court on April 15, 2024 dismissed a lawsuit by death row inmates that claimed same-day notifications of executions violate the Constitution — the first ruling of its kind.
MARCH 13, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE OVERTURNED FOR KUDOKAI GANG BOSS
A Japanese high court on March 12, 2024 overturned a lower court ruling sentencing the head of the Kudokai crime syndicate to death over four cases of attacks on ordinary citizens.
JANUARY 25, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING 36 IN ANIME STUDIO ARSON
A Japanese man was convicted and sentenced to death on January 25, 2024 for the arson and killing of 36 people at famed anime studio Kyoto Animation in 2019, public broadcaster NHK said.
- JANUARY 18, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: 21-YEAR-OLD MAN GIVEN DEATH PENALTY FOR 2021 MURDER, ARSON
A Japanese court sentenced a 21-year-old man to death on January 18, 2024 for the 2021 murder of two and arson, in the first case of capital punishment being given to an offender who was a minor at the time of the crime but whose name has been revealed un
- DECEMBER 30, 2023JapanDEATH PENALTY
NO EXECUTIONS IN JAPAN IN 2023; LAST ONE WAS FOR AKIHABARA KILLER
Japan carried out no executions in 2023 for the first time in three years.
- DECEMBER 11, 2023JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: EX-COP'S APPEAL OVER MURDER OF FAMILY DISMISSED, DEATH PENALTY UPHELD
Japan's top court on December 8, 2023 dismissed an appeal by the defense of a former policeman who was given the death sentence for the murders of his wife and two children in 2017, exhausting his legal options.
- JULY 4, 2023JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN OVER MURDERS
The Japanese Supreme Court on July 3, 2023 upheld the death sentence for a man convicted over the deaths of three people, scrapping his appeal to finalize the ultimate penalty handed down to him in earlier district and high court rulings.
- JUNE 5, 2023JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS MAN'S DEATH SENTENCE FOR MANILA MURDERS
The Supreme Court on June 5, 2023 upheld a death sentence for a man convicted of murdering two other Japanese men in Manila in 2014 and 2015, rejecting his appeal to have the ruling overturned.
MARCH 15, 2023JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: HIGH COURT ORDERS RETRIAL OF LONGEST-SERVING DEATH ROW CONVICT OVER 1966 MURDER CASE
The world’s longest-serving death row convict was on 13 March 2023 granted a retrial by a Japanese court in the latest twist in a legal saga dating back to the 1960s.
- MARCH 7, 2023JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: OSAKA HIGH COURT APPROVES POSTHUMOUS RETRIAL OF MAN OVER 1984 MURDER
A Japanese high court approved on 27 February 2023 a posthumous retrial for a man convicted of robbing and murdering a 69-year-old woman in 1984 in western Japan, upholding a lower court's decision.
NOVEMBER 29, 2022JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH-ROW INMATES SEEK END TO HANGING AS INHUMANE EXECUTION
Three death-row inmates in Osaka filed a suit against the state on 29 November 2022, seeking an end to the practice of execution by hanging, claiming the method was inhumane under international conventions.
NOVEMBER 15, 2022JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: JUSTICE MINISTER RESIGNS AFTER DEATH PENALTY QUIP
Japan's justice minister stepped down on November 11 evening, becoming the second minister to leave Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet over a scandal in less than a month and forcing a last-minute delay for the embattled premier's Asia tour.