Two death-row inmates were hanged Friday, in Tokyo and Osaka, in the second round of executions this year after three men went to the gallows in March.
Friday's hangings were the first ordered by Justice Minister Makoto Taki, who assumed the post June 4. Prisoners on death row now number 130.
Junya Hattori, 40, and Kyozo Matsumura, 31, were hanged because "there was no uncertainty surrounding their convictions," said Taki, who supports the death sentence.