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
- NOVEMBER 22, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE STANDS IN MABUCHI MOTOR SLAYINGS
Justice Itsuro Terada, presiding over the Japanese Supreme Court's Third Petty Bench, turned down the appeal by Katsumi Morita, 61.
- NOVEMBER 21, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: FINAL APPEAL ON TOKYO SUBWAY GAS ATTACK REJECTED
Presiding judge Seiji Kanetsuki of Japan's Supreme Court rejected the final appeal of Seiichi Endo against his death sentence for the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway which left 13 people dead.
NOVEMBER 1, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN TO HANG FOR MURDERS
in Japan, Sunao Takami was sentenced to hang for killing five people
- OCTOBER 25, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: JAPANESE SENTENCED TO HANG IN MALAYSIA FOR DRUGS
the Malaysian High Court in Shah Alam sentenced 37-year-old Japanese woman Mariko Takeuchi, a former nurse, to death for smuggling methamphetamine into the country.
- OCTOBER 25, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING 2 WOMEN
in Japan, Presiding Judge Hiroyoshi Suzuki of the Kumamoto District Court sentenced Kumamoto resident Kenichi Tajiri, 40, to death for killing two women and stealing money in separate incidents in Kumamoto Prefecture.
- OCTOBER 11, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN COURT DELIBERATES HANGING'S CONSTITUTIONALITY
in Japan, the Osaka District Court began two-day deliberations on the constitutionality of capital punishment as part of the murder trial of Sunao Takami, 43.
- OCTOBER 7, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPANESE BAR ASSOCIATIONS SEEK DEBATE ON ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY
the Japan Federation of Bar Associations came out in opposition to the death penalty...
OCTOBER 3, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: TOP COURT REJECTS DEATH PENALTY APPEALS OVER QUADRUPLE MURDER
the second petty bench of the Japanese Supreme Court refused to review death penalty appeals filed by
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: EX-AUM CULTIST SEEKS REVERSAL OF DEATH PENALTY IN SUPREME COURT APPEAL
the defence counsel for former senior AUM Shinrikyo cult member Tomomasa Nakagawa asked the Japan's Supreme Court No. 2 Petty Bench to overturn his death penalty for the deadly nerve gas attacks and the murder of a lawyer and his family.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: JUSTICE MINISTER HIRAOKA CALLS FOR NATIONAL DEBATE ON DEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Hideo Hiraoka stressed the need for a national debate on whether Japan should
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: NEW JUSTICE MINISTER WON'T OK EXECUTIONS IN NEAR FUTURE
Newly appointed Japan’s Justice Minister Hideo Hiraoka, speaking at his first news conference said that he had no plans to approve any executions of death-row inmates in the foreseeable future.
JULY 29, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: JUSTICE MINISTER MAY HALT EXECUTIONS
Japanese Justice Minister Satsuki Eda indicated his intention not to authorize the execution of death row
JULY 26, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD AFTER ARSON ATTACK ON VIDEO SHOP IN OSAKA LEFT 16 DEAD
In Japan a high court upheld a lower court ruling that handed the death penalty to a man over
- JULY 12, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
COMPANY ENDS CONTRACTS WITH IRAN AFTER CRANES USED IN PUBLIC HANGINGS
A Japanese company said it has ended contracts with the Iranian government following a report that its cranes have been used for public executions.
JUNE 30, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN TO HANG FOR KILLING WOMAN, 21
Tatsumi Tateyama, 50, was sentenced to death by Presiding Judge Masanori Hatoko of the
- APRIL 19, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH PENALTY ON MAN CONVICTED OF KILLING 2 TO STAND
Justice Mutsuo Tahara of the Japanese Supreme Court turned down an appeal by Yukiharu Fuchigami, 42, sentenced to death for murder.
- APRIL 14, 2011BelarusDEATH PENALTY
PACE URGES BELARUS TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called on
- MARCH 31, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: KATO DEATH SENTENCE APPEAL FILED
Tomohiro Kato, 28, appealed his death sentence to the Tokyo High Court in Japan.
MARCH 30, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH SENTENCES FINALISED FOR 3 MEN
the death sentences for Masato Kobayashi, 36, Atsushi Okura, 35, and Masayoshi
- MARCH 24, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPANESE MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR STABBING 7
Tomohiro Kato, 28, a former temporary auto plant worker, was sentenced to death in Japan by presiding judge Hiroaki Murayama of the Tokyo District Court.
- MARCH 15, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: MAN GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE
the Tokyo District Court handed down the death sentence to Kazuo Ino, 60, to death for stabbing a 74-year-old man to death when committing a robbery in Tokyo in November 2009.
- MARCH 10, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH SENTENCES TO STAND FOR 3 MEN OVER 1994 MURDERS
Justice Ryuko Sakurai of the Japanese Supreme Court upheld the 2001 Nagoya District Court and the October 2005 Nagoya High Court death sentences handed to Masato Kobayashi, Atsushi Komori and Masayoshi Haga, all 35.
MARCH 10, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH ROW INMATE, 75 TODAY, SHOULD BE GRANTED A STAY OF EXECUTION
a man in Japan who has spent 43 years on death row and is 75 today, should be granted
- MARCH 8, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN FORMALISES DEATH SENTENCE FOR SARIN ATTACK CONSPIRATOR
Japan's Supreme Court on completed legal preparations for the execution of the Aum Shinrikyo chemist Masami Tsuchiya, 46, who helped the Japanese cult develop the sarin nerve agent it used to kill nearly 20 people in the 1994 and 1995 subway attacks.
MARCH 8, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: TOP COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR SERIAL KILLINGS
Presiding Justice Kiyoko Okabe of the Japanese Supreme Court upheld the death penalty
- FEBRUARY 15, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE FOR AUM'S TSUCHIYA TO BE FINALISED
Presiding Justice Kohei Nasu of the Japanese Supreme Court turned down an appeal from Masami Tsuchiya...
- JANUARY 21, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: JUSTICE MINISTER TO CONSIDER ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Satsuki Eda said a study group set up by the justice ministry would
- JANUARY 14, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: NEW MINISTER OPPOSES DEATH PENALTY
Japan has appointed a new justice minister who opposes the death penalty, raising hopes
- JANUARY 1, 2011JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japanese criminal law envisages the death penalty for 13 different...
Japanese criminal law envisages the death penalty for 13 different crimes but in practice death sentences are only handed down for murder.
- DECEMBER 29, 2010JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japan: 14 sentenced to gallows in 2010
Courts sentenced 14 people to hang in 2010, down 20 from the previous year, reflecting a decrease in heinous crimes, particularly murder, a Kyodo News poll showed.