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
MAY 26, 2019JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS 'BLACK WIDOW' DEATH SENTENCE
A Japanese court on 24 May 2019 upheld the death sentence for a woman dubbed the "Black Widow", who used cyanide to kill a string of elderly and rich lovers and pocketed millions in insurance payouts and inheritance.
MAY 23, 2019JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE FINALIZED FOR MAN OVER 2015 MURDER OF 2 CHILDREN
The death sentence has been finalized for a 49-year-old man convicted of the 2015 murder of two junior high school students in western Japan after he withdrew his appeal, a court said on 21 May 2019.
MARCH 18, 2019JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING 3 PEOPLE, 2 BODIES STILL NOT FOUND
A Japanese court sentenced a 52-year-old man to death on 15 March 2019 for killing three men in western Japan between 2010 and 2011, though two of the three bodies have yet to be located.
- JANUARY 1, 2019JapanDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty in Japan is provided for 13 crimes
The death penalty in Japan is provided for 13 crimes
- DECEMBER 27, 2018JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: 2 DEATH ROW INMATES HANGED, BRINGING 2018 EXECUTIONS TO 15
Japan hanged two men convicted of murder on 27 December 2018, the justice minister said, bringing the number of executions this year to 15 -- tied for the highest amount on record.
DECEMBER 21, 2018JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: OSAKA MAN GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE FOR CHILD MURDERS
A court in Osaka on 19 December 2018 sentenced a man to death for the murders of a 13-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy.
OCTOBER 8, 2018JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE FINALIZED FOR CHINESE MAN OVER 2009 DOUBLE MURDER IN AICHI
A death sentence was finalized on 2 October 2018 for a 35-year-old Chinese man convicted of murdering two people in 2009, after the Supreme Court rejected his request for retraction of the previous dismissal of his appeal.
- JULY 25, 2018JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN EXECUTES SIX MORE MEMBERS OF DOOMSDAY CULT
- JULY 6, 2018JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN HANGS CULT LEADER SHOKO ASAHARA, 6 OTHERS FOR 1995 TOKYO SUBWAY SARIN ATTACK
The former leader of Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese doomsday cult that carried out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, was executed alongside six other members of the cult, Japanese media reported.
MARCH 22, 2018JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: EX-WORKER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING 3 AT NURSING HOME
A court sentenced a 25-year-old man to death for killing three elderly residents at a nursing home he was working for in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, in 2014.
MARCH 9, 2018JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: PERUVIAN SENTENCED TO HANG FOR KILLING 6 PEOPLE
A Japanese court sentenced a Peruvian man to hang for killing six people over several days in 2015 near Tokyo.
- JANUARY 1, 2018JapanDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty in Japan is provided for 13 crimes
The death penalty in Japan is provided for 13 crimes
- DECEMBER 19, 2017JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN HANGS 2 INMATES; FIRST EXECUTIONS SINCE JULY
Japan hanged two death-row inmates in the morning, including a 44-year-old man who killed four people when he was a minor, the Justice Ministry said.
NOVEMBER 7, 2017JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: ‘BLACK WIDOW’ SERIAL KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING THREE PARTNERS WITH CYANIDE COCKTAILS
A serial killer dubbed Japan’s “black widow” received a death sentence for the murders of her husband and two common-law partners, as well as the attempted murder of an acquaintance, between 2007 and 2013.
- JULY 13, 2017JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN EXECUTES PAIR ON DEATH ROW
Japan’s Ministry of Justice announced the execution of two male convicts on death row, reports the Sankei Shimbun.
APRIL 14, 2017JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: TOP COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR ‘BLACK WIDOW’ WHO MURDERED THREE MEN SHE MET ONLINE
Japan’s top court upheld the death sentence given to a 42-year-old woman for killing three men she met through an online dating service in the Tokyo area in 2009.
MARCH 22, 2017JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING 5 PEOPLE IN HYOGO PREFECTURE
The Kobe District Court sentenced a 42-year-old man to death over the killing of five people in Hyogo Prefecture in 2015, dismissing lawyers' arguments that he was mentally ill.
- JANUARY 1, 2017JapanDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty in Japan is provided for 13 crimes
The death penalty in Japan is provided for 13 crimes
NOVEMBER 11, 2016JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DOUBLE MURDERER EXECUTED; 2ND UNDER CITIZEN JUDGE SYSTEM
A man convicted of two murders was hanged at the Fukuoka Detention House in Kyushu, the Justice Ministry announced.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2016JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: BAR FEDERATION TARGETS ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY FOR 1ST TIME
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations will propose for the first time to its members next month that they work for the abolition of capital punishment so that even the worst offenders can be rehabilitated.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR KILLER OF FIVE
The Hiroshima High Court upheld the death penalty for a 66-year-old man convicted of killing five neighbors and setting fire to two of their homes in a remote community in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2013.
JULY 21, 2016JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: TOP COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLER TSUTSUI
The Supreme court rejected an appeal against a lower court decision to give the death sentence to 31-year-
- JUNE 8, 2016JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the defense team of Yutaro Chiba, 24, for murders he committed when he was a minor (he was 18 years and 7 months old). The decision was supported by all five justices.
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the defense team of Yutaro Chiba, 24, for murders he committed when he was a minor (he was 18 years and 7 months old). The decision was supported by all five justices.
- MARCH 25, 2016JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN EXECUTES TWO MURDERERS RESPONSIBLE FOR SEVEN DEATHS
A convicted serial killer and the mastermind of a murder-for-insurance scheme were executed on March 25, bringing to four the number of inmates hanged since Justice Minister Mitsuhide Iwaki took office in October.
- MARCH 18, 2016JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: KOBE MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER MURDER OF 6 - YEAR - OLD GIRL
The Kobe District Court handed down a death sentence to a man accused of murdering a 6-year-old girl
- JANUARY 1, 2016JapanDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty in Japan is provided for 13 crimes
The death penalty in Japan is provided for 13 crimes
DECEMBER 18, 2015JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: TWO CONVICTED MURDERERS HANGED
Japan executed two death row prisoners, including the nation's first of a condemned inmate sentenced by jurors, officials and media said, as campaigners called for the country to abolish capital punishment.
DECEMBER 15, 2015JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN SERVING LIFE FOR MURDER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ANOTHER MURDER
A 40-year-old man already convicted of killing a woman in Aichi Prefecture in 2007 was sentenced to death for a murder in 1998.
OCTOBER 4, 2015JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: PRISONER DIES AFTER 46 YEARS ON DEATH ROW
Masaru Okunishi, a death-row inmate who was seeking a retrial over a 1961 wine poisoning case, died at the Hachioji medical prison in western Tokyo. He was 89.
JUNE 25, 2015JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MURDERER CONVICT EXECUTED, GOVERNMENT ABE’S TWELFTH EXECUTION
Japan executed a man who robbed and killed a woman after plotting the crime with accomplices he met online.