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| Japan Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi |
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NO EXECUTIONS IN JAPAN IN 2023; LAST ONE WAS FOR AKIHABARA KILLER
December 30, 2023: Japan carried out no executions in 2023 for the first time in three years.
Currently, there are 106 people on death row in Japan. Three of the inmates died and three death sentences were finalized this year, according to the Justice Ministry.
The last execution was on July 26, 2022, when Tomohiro Kato was hanged. He was convicted of murdering seven people by driving into them or stabbing them in a random attack in Tokyo’s Akihabara district in 2008.
Yoshihisa Furukawa was justice minister at the time of the execution.
His three successors, including incumbent Ryuji Koizumi, who took office in September, have not signed any execution papers.
Under the Criminal Procedure Law, the justice minister is required, in principle, to order the execution within six months after a death sentence is finalized.
But the average incarceration period for death row inmates is about 15 years and two months, reflecting the time required to review finalized death sentences and respond to requests for retrials. (Source: THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, 29/12/2023)
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