09 January 2007 :

it was reported that forty-four death sentences were handed down by courts across Japan in 2006, a record high since 1980, when the Supreme Court began keeping records on such sentences. 13 death sentences were given by district courts and their branches, 15 by high courts and their branches, and 16 by the Supreme Court. In the 1980s and '90s, only 1987 and 1988 had more than 20 defendants sentenced to death. In 2000, 23 people were sentenced to death, and since then, the number has been 30 to 40 a year, except in 2002.