Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki

JAPAN EXECUTES 2 KILLERS; PERIOD ON DEATH ROW SHORTENS UNDER LDP-LED GOVERNMENT

December 12, 2013: Two convicted murderers were hanged in the fourth round of executions since the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in December last year, the Justice Ministry said.
So far, eight condemned inmates have been executed on the orders signed by Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki. The time between the death sentence and the execution has shortened under Tanigaki compared with that of the previous administration headed by the Democratic Party of Japan.
Mitsuo Fujishima, 55, who murdered his ex-wife’s aunt and a male company employee in 1986 in Yamanashi and Niigata prefectures, respectively, was hanged at the Tokyo Detention.
Ryoji Kagayama, 63, who killed a female Chinese student in Osaka in 2000 and a male company employee in 2008 in the same city, was executed at the Osaka Detention House.
“In those cases, the men killed their victims for selfish purposes,” Tanigaki told a news conference that day. “They are brutal crimes. I examined the records carefully before making the decision.”
They were the first executions in three months.
Death penalties are carried out on average five years and seven months after the sentences are finalized.
Kagayama’s execution was conducted one year and four months after he was sentenced to death.
Fujishima was hanged 18 years and five months after he received the death sentence. (Sources: ajw.asahi.com, 12/12/2013)