The three executions Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa approved March 29 ended a 20-month spell during which no death-row inmates were hanged.
Ogawa, who assumed his post in January, has declared he will not hesitate to issue more death warrants, raising the prospect that more hangings are due on his watch. His stance presents a stark contrast to that of his two predecessors, who were reluctant to sign off on executions.
"It is the people who decide what type of penalty should be meted out for each crime," Ogawa told the press on the morning the three death-row prisoners were hanged.