A man on death row was executed Friday, just a month after the Japan Federation of Bar Associations called for an end to capital punishment.
According to the Justice Ministry, Kenichi Tajiri, 45, who was convicted in 2012 of two murder-robbery cases, was hanged in the morning at a prison in Fukuoka Prefecture.
In the first execution since two prisoners were sent to the gallows in March, Friday's hanging was the second based on the verdict of a lay judge trial.