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Japan Carries Out First Execution in Nearly Three Years
On Friday, Japan executed a man who murdered nine individuals after engaging with them on social media, marking the first execution in nearly three years.
Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the "Twitter Killer," was sentenced to death for committing horrific acts in 2017 where he strangled and dismembered eight women and one man in his apartment located in Zama, a city in Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, who sanctioned Shiraishi’s hanging, stated that he made this decision after thorough consideration. He emphasized that Shiraishi’s crimes stemmed from "extremely selfish" motives that generated significant shock and turmoil within society.
Prior to this execution, the last one took place in July 2022 when a man was executed for a stabbing spree in Tokyo’s Akihabara shopping district back in 2008. This marked the first implementation of the death penalty under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s administration, which took office last October.
In a related legal development, a Japanese court exonerated Iwao Hakamada last September, who had spent the longest time on death row due to a wrongful conviction for crimes committed almost 60 years ago.
In Japan, executions are carried out by hanging, with inmates notified only hours before the execution is scheduled—an approach widely criticized by human rights organizations due to the immense stress it places on death-row inmates.
"It is inappropriate to abolish capital punishment while violent crimes continue to occur," Suzuki remarked during a press conference, noting that there are currently 105 individuals awaiting execution in Japan.
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