Japan 2000
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
News on Japan in 2000
- DECEMBER 10, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Tokyo High Court upheld a death sentence imposed...
The Tokyo High Court upheld a death sentence imposed on a man who murdered two men and one woman in Tochigi Prefecture from 1990 to 1993 in the mistaken belief that the men were having affairs with his wife
- DECEMBER 3, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International leader Pierre Sane renewed the...
Amnesty International leader Pierre Sane renewed the group's call for Japan to abolish the death penalty and also criticized the country's treatment of death-row inmates
- NOVEMBER 30, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Three convicted killers, Kiyotaka Katsuta, 52, who...
Three convicted killers, Kiyotaka Katsuta, 52, who changed his family name to Fujiwara, Takashi Miyawaki, 57, and Kunikatsu Oishi, 55 were hanged
- NOVEMBER 30, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Activists in strongly anti-death penalty Italy picketed...
Activists in strongly anti-death penalty Italy picketed outside the Japanese Embassy in protest of Japan's hanging of three murderers
- OCTOBER 26, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Takamatsu High Court sentenced 65 year-old Yoshio...
The Takamatsu High Court sentenced 65 year-old Yoshio Yamazaki to death for murdering two people in 1985 and 1990 for insurance money and overturned a lower court ruling of life imprisonment
- OCTOBER 11, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Noboru Nakamura,...
Prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Noboru Nakamura, 33, a former AUM Shinrikyo member who allegedly took part in the 1994 nerve-gas attack
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Takamatsu High Court made a rare decision to uphold...
The Takamatsu High Court made a rare decision to uphold a lower court ruling that sentenced 73-year-old Haruno Sakamoto to death for the murder of her husband and an employee of the bar she ran
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The three ruling parties, the Liberal Democratic Party,...
The three ruling parties, the Liberal Democratic Party, the New Komeito Party and the New Conservative Party , agreed on a draft of a bill to revise the Juvenile Law to make juveniles criminally responsible from the age of 14, down from the current age of
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Policy planners of the three ruling parties-the Liberal...
Policy planners of the three ruling parties-the Liberal Democratic Party(LDP), New Komeito and Hoshuto (New Conservative Party)-decided to look into revising the Penal Code to pave the way for the introduction of life imprisonment without parole
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for a 35-year-old...
The Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for a 35-year-old man convicted of killing four people in four prefectures between 1984 and 1991
- AUGUST 31, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Justice Ministry rejected the petition for amnesty...
The Justice Ministry rejected the petition for amnesty submitted by Toshihiko Hasegawa
- AUGUST 29, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Yoshiro Takahashi, 50, was sentenced to death and three...
Yoshiro Takahashi, 50, was sentenced to death and three others given life imprisonment for the 1992 murder and robbery of Kazuhiro Obi, a 37-year-old Tokyo doctor, and Yoshihide Fukazawa, 32, a beauty parlor owner
- AUGUST 1, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
In reference to a debate regarding changes to the Juvenile...
In reference to a debate regarding changes to the Juvenile Law, Teikyo University Professor Takeshi Tsuchimoto said that the age at which a person could be sentenced to death should be lowered from 18 to 16, while the age at which a person could face crim
- JULY 28, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Kiyohide Hayakawa, 51, was sentenced to death by hanging...
Kiyohide Hayakawa, 51, was sentenced to death by hanging for the 1989 murders of anti-AUM lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, 33, his wife Satoko, 29, and their 14-month-old son Tatsuhiko and for his role in building a plant to mass produce the nerve gas used in th
- JULY 25, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Former AUM Shinrikyo member Satoru Hashimoto 33, was...
Former AUM Shinrikyo member Satoru Hashimoto 33, was sentenced to death by the Tokyo District Court for taking part in the murders of an anti-cult lawyer and his family as well as the fatal poison gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture 1989
- JULY 19, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Nagoya District Court sentenced 56-year-old Yoshimi...
The Nagoya District Court sentenced 56-year-old Yoshimi Toyoda to death for murdering Kazuko Nakano, 44, and Hide Shinoda, 62 in 1996 and 1997
- JULY 17, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Toru Toyoda, 32, and Kenichi Hirose, 36, two former...
Toru Toyoda, 32, and Kenichi Hirose, 36, two former leaders of Aum Shinri Kyo, were sentenced to death by hanging for murder and attempted murder for their roles in releasing sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subway in 1995
- JULY 13, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Yasuo Hayashi appealed his death sentence to the Tokyo...
Yasuo Hayashi appealed his death sentence to the Tokyo High Court
- JUNE 29, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Yasuo Hayashi, a key member of the Aum Shinri Kyo cult,...
Yasuo Hayashi, a key member of the Aum Shinri Kyo cult, was sentenced to death by hanging for taking part in the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway
- JUNE 21, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The families of two victims of convicted killer Toshihiko...
The families of two victims of convicted killer Toshihiko Hasegawa asked the Justice Ministry to commute his death sentence to life in prison
- JUNE 16, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Prosecutors filed an appeal at the Tokyo High Court...
Prosecutors filed an appeal at the Tokyo High Court against the lower court's June 6 ruling sentencing former Aum Shinri Kyo member Yoshihiro Inoue to life in prison
- JUNE 8, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Bereaved families of victims and survivors of the subway...
Bereaved families of victims and survivors of the subway gassing blasted the Tokyo District Court for not Inoue Yoshihiro the death penalty
- JUNE 6, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Inoue Yoshihiro was sentenced to life in prison for...
Inoue Yoshihiro was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1995 nerve gas attack Tokyo's subway
- JUNE 2, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The government issued a statement that defended the...
The government issued a statement that defended the December 1999 execution of a death-row inmate who had been requesting a retrial
- MAY 26, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Kumamoto District Court sentenced Yoshiaki Nishimura...
The Kumamoto District Court sentenced Yoshiaki Nishimura ,45, to death for killing the wife of a doctor and stealing 2 million yen in cash and a deposit book from her house in Kumamoto in November 1997
- APRIL 26, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japan voted against the resolution on the death penalty...
Japan voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 26 (no
- MARCH 30, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
During his hearing at the Tokyo District Court, Tomomasa...
During his hearing at the Tokyo District Court, Tomomasa Nakagawa, 37, said, "I will be sentenced to death
- MARCH 16, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Sendai High Court rejected a former death-row inmate's...
The Sendai High Court rejected a former death-row inmate's demand that the state and Miyagi Prefecture pay a total of 143 million yen in compensation for falsely charging him of murdering a family of four in 1955
- MARCH 15, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Fukuoka District Court sentenced Yoshikatsu Oda,...
The Fukuoka District Court sentenced Yoshikatsu Oda, 52, to death for stabbing to death Ikuyo Kagenishi and Tsuyoshi Shiraishi in December 1990 and attempting to make the murders appear to be a double suicide
- MARCH 9, 2000JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court rejected...
The Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court rejected an appeal against a lower court ruling and upheld a 1997 ruling by the Naha District Court that found Hideo Zamami, 46, guilty of murdering two plainclothes policemen in 1990