Capital punishment in Japan
Updated: Wikipedia source
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Japan. The Penal Code of Japan and several laws list 14 capital crimes. In practice, though, it is applied only for aggravated murder. Executions are carried out by long drop hanging, and take place at one of the seven execution chambers located in major cities across the country. The only crime punishable by a mandatory death sentence is instigation of foreign aggression. Death sentences are usually passed in cases of multiple murders, although there have been some extremely grave cases where individuals who committed a single murder have been sentenced to death and executed, such as those involving torture, extreme brutality or kidnapping with a demand for ransom. Between January 2000 and July 2022, 98 inmates have been executed in Japan. As of 28 June 2025, 105 death row inmates were awaiting execution. The most recent execution was that of Takahiro Shiraishi on 27 June 2025. Japan is one of four developed democracies worldwide to actively apply the death penalty. In 2025, a government survey showed that about 83.1% of the Japanese population supports the death penalty. The figure was a 2.3% increase from a survey taken five years prior.