Japan carries out first execution under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi
Japan executed Sunao Takami, convicted of a 2009 Osaka arson that killed five, marking the first death-penalty carried out since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office.
Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi announced that Sunao Takami, 58, was hanged for the 2009 fire at a pachinko parlor in Osaka that resulted in five deaths and ten injuries. The execution is the first to be carried out under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration and the first in the country since June 2025. Takami’s death sentence had been confirmed in 2016 after his conviction for the arson attack.
Why it matters
It shows the Takaichi government’s stance on capital punishment and marks Japan's first execution in over a year.
In this story
executioncapital punishmentarson attackpachinko parlordeath rowprime ministerjustice ministerOsaka
