51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Tag - death-penalty

 
 

DEATH PENALTY

A man prays for the victims of a 2008 indiscriminate stabbing incident in Tokyo's Akihabara district on Monday, the 18th anniversary of the incident.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Jun 8, 2026
Victims mourned 18 years after Akihabara stabbing incident
The attacker, then 25, rammed a truck into a pedestrian area near Akihabara Station and hit passers-by before attacking them with a dagger.
Tokyo Detention House guidelines dictate that CCTV surveillance can be used when detainees are at risk of suicide or self-harm, or when there is concern they may try to escape.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
May 20, 2026
Female death row inmate sues Japan government over 24/7 surveillance
A death-row inmate says she¡¯s been surveilled 24/7 for 24 years. Now, she¡¯s suing the Japanese government for a breach of human rights.
Then-Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe reviews an honor guard before meeting with his Brazilian counterpart in Brasilia in September 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 7, 2026
China gives two ex-defense ministers suspended death sentences over corruption
Former Defense Ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu were once members of China¡¯s powerful Central Military Commission, the body that oversees the country¡¯s military.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks in Pyongyang on Feb. 23.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 28, 2026
North Korean executions rose dramatically during COVID-19, report shows
Death penalty cases related to foreign culture, religion and ¡°superstition¡± jumped by 250% after the country closed its borders, the report showed.
A lethal injection chamber at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington, in September 2024.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2026
U.S. adding firing squads, electrocution and gassing to federal execution methods
The U.S. is ?one of very few Western nations that still uses the death penalty, although public support for capital punishment has gradually ?declined among Americans.
Palestinians inspect a burned vehicle and tractor following an attack by Israeli settlers in the northern outskirts of Tayasir village near the occupied West Bank town of Tubas on March 31.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 1, 2026
Applying Israel¡¯s death penalty law would be a ¡®war crime¡¯: U.N.
Under the new law, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted by military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as ¡°terrorism¡± will face the death penalty.
Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, speaks during a parliamentary session in Jerusalem on Monday as Israel's parliament passes a law that makes the death penalty a default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly attacks.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 31, 2026
Israel passes death penalty law for Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks
The law, which has drawn international criticism of Israel, would only apply to Israelis convicted of murder whose attacks aimed at ¡°ending Israel¡¯s existence.¡±
The Osaka High Court
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Mar 18, 2026
Court rules KyoAni killer¡¯s withdrawal of death sentence appeal was valid
After the defendant retracted his appeal in January, his lawyers filed with the high court to contest the validity of his decision.
The death penalty has been sought for a 43-year-old man charged with killing three members of a family in Hanno, Saitama Prefecture.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2026
Death penalty sought over triple murder in Saitama
The defendant, 43-year-old Jun Saito, is charged with killing three members of a family at their house in the city of Hanno in December 2022.
Co-representative Yasuyuki Tokuda (left) of the defense team speaks at a news conference in the city of Fukuoka on Monday.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Feb 17, 2026
High court rejects retrial appeal over 1992 Fukuoka child murder
The defense plans to file a special appeal with the Supreme Court against the decision.
Defense lawyers of a 1952 murder case seeking a retrial hold signs reading "unjust decision" on Wednesday in the city of Kumamoto.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Jan 28, 2026
Court rejects retrial request for executed man believed to have had leprosy
It was a rare case in which a retrial was sought for a defendant who had already been executed.
The Osaka District Court dismissed a request on Friday by three death-row inmates seeking to have executions by hanging banned.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2026
Osaka court dismisses request to ban executions by hanging
Three inmates, whose death sentences have been finalized, claimed that executions by hanging violate?an international treaty that prohibits cruel punishments.
Yoon Suk Yeol, then the president of South Korea, in Seoul on Sept. 14, 2022. A special counsel asked a court in Seoul on Tuesday to sentence Yoon to death.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 14, 2026
South Korean prosecutors demand death penalty for former leader Yoon
Yoon triggered a political crisis when he announced an end to civilian rule in December 2024 and sent troops to parliament to enforce it.
U.S. President Donald Trump said a group of Democratic lawmakers who called on troops to disobey his orders should be put on trial ¡ª and even suggested they should face the death penalty.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 21, 2025
Trump calls for sedition trial after Democrats urged troops to disobey orders
His suggestion that the lawmakers be put to death drew even more attention to a video telling the intelligence community and military members to disobey unlawful orders.
A man holds a poster outside the court in Dhaka on Nov. 17 calling for the death penalty ahead of the verdict against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity for a deadly crackdown on student-led protests in 2024.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2025
Bangladesh¡¯s Hasina sentence: Justice or vengeance?
Human Rights Watch, among other observers, determined the tribunal ¡°failed to meet international fair trial standards.¡±
Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivers a speech during the 25th International Conference on The Future Of Asia, in Tokyo in 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 17, 2025
Bangladesh court sentences ex-prime minister to be hanged for crimes against humanity
Sheikh Hasina called the verdict ¡°biased and politically motivated¡± in a statement issued from India, where the ousted leader is hiding.
The Kobe District Court in Kobe
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Oct 15, 2025
Death penalty sought over fatal crossbow attack
The prosecution said that the defendant¡¯s autism spectrum disorder did not significantly affect his motivation and that his acts were planned.
Masanori Aoki, 34, has been handed the death penalty for killing four people, including two police officers, in the city of Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, in 2023.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Crime & Legal
Oct 14, 2025
Nagano court sentences man to death for quadruple murder
Presiding Judge Masashi Sakata said the crime ¡°leaves no room for leniency, and deserves the highest level of condemnation.¡±
Iwao Hakamata's legal team and others head to the Shizuoka District Court on Thursday.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Oct 9, 2025
Former death row inmate Iwao Hakamata files damages suit against government
Hakamata, 89, sought some ?600 million in damages, a record amount against the government in a suit over a retrial case.
Masanori Aoki has been indicted on charges of fatally stabbing two local women and killing two police officers with a knife and a hunting gun in Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, in May 2023.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø
Sep 24, 2025
Death penalty sought for man over quadruple murder in Nagano
Masanori Aoki has been indicted on charges of fatally stabbing two local women and killing two police officers with a knife and a hunting gun.

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon

SUSTAINABLE 51³Ô¹ÏÍø