14 years after the attack: Japan has gunmen executed

A gunman sentenced to death has been executed in Japan. The man killed seven people in Tokyo in 2008. Japan is one of the few OECD countries that still uses the death penalty.

A man has been executed in Japan for killing seven people in a shooting spree in the capital Tokyo. Japanese Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa confirmed the execution. He approved the execution of the death sentence after “extremely careful consideration”.

The executed Tomohiro Kato drove a truck into a crowd on June 8, 2008 in the Akihabara district. Then the then 25-year-old stabbed passers-by indiscriminately. He killed seven people and injured ten others before being arrested.

“It didn’t matter who I would kill”

After his arrest, he told the police: “I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn’t matter who I killed.” He was “fed up with everything,” the Japanese media quoted him as saying after his arrest. The young man had previously announced his actions on the Internet and complained about his loneliness and his unstable job.

In court, he apologized for the act and pleaded for reduced criminal responsibility. Kato stated that he was in a state of insanity during the act. The Japanese man was nevertheless sentenced to death in 2011, and the country’s Supreme Court upheld the sentence in 2015.

Death row inmates live in solitary confinement for years

Japan is one of the few industrial nations that still use the death penalty. Within the OECD, only Japan and the USA and South Korea impose the death penalty. However, South Korea has suspended them. Most recently, three convicted murderers were executed last December. There are currently more than 100 inmates on death row in Japan. Executions in Japan are carried out by hanging, often many years after the conviction.

People sentenced to death in Japan often live in solitary confinement for years before they are executed. Human rights organizations and foreign governments also criticize that the death row inmates are often only informed of the time of their execution a few hours before the execution is due to take place. However, there is broad popular support for the death penalty.