National / Crime & Legal Jan 6, 2021
During his trial, Takahiro Shiraishi said that he did not want to be a nuisance to his relatives and that he would not file an appeal against the court's ruling.
National / Crime & Legal Dec 15, 2020
Japan's 'Twitter killer' sentenced to death over serial murders
Whether Shiraishi killed the victims with their consent was the major point of contention in the lay judge trial.
National / Crime & Legal Dec 11, 2020
Man given death sentence for 2018 murders of five in Kagoshima
Immediately after the ruling was handed down, Tomohiro Iwakura lunged at the prosecutors and had to be restrained by prison officers.
National Dec 6, 2020
Sakae Menda, an innocent man freed from death row after 34 years in prison, dies at 95
Menda, who was released in 1983, spent much of the rest of his life as a campaigner against the death penalty, giving speeches in Japan and abroad.
National / Crime & Legal Oct 21, 2020
Japan Justice Ministry to notify victims of death row executions
They will also be informed if inmates die due to reasons other than execution, such as illness.
National / Crime & Legal Oct 2, 2020
New justice minister pledges support for non-Japanese residents
by Magdalena Osumi
Yoko Kamikawa vowed to improve policies that impact foreign nationals in Japan as well as the transparency of the justice system.
National / Crime & Legal Sep 18, 2020
Aum cult leader Asahara's daughter to get his remains, court rules
The move comes amid a row over who will take possession of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara's ashes.
Asia Pacific Aug 6, 2020
China sentences Canadian to death for drugs amid strained ties
by Iain Marlow
A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian man to death on drug charges, a decision that follows capital punishment rulings handed down to other Canadians and comes as ties between Beijing and Ottawa remain fraught. The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court on Thursday sentenced Canadian Xu Weihong ...
Asia Pacific / Crime & Legal May 20, 2020
A man has been sentenced to death in Singapore via a Zoom video-call for his role in a drug deal, the city-state's first case where capital punishment has been delivered remotely. Punithan Genasan, a 37-year-old Malaysian, received the sentence for his role in a 2011 ...
National / Crime & Legal Mar 31, 2020
Death penalty finalized for 2016 Sagamihara care home mass murderer
The death sentence for a man who admitted to the 2016 mass murder of 19 mentally impaired people at a care home near Tokyo was finalized Tuesday after he withdrew his appeal the previous day. Satoshi Uematsu, 30, a former caretaker at the Tsukui Yamayuri ...
Reference | FYI Mar 25, 2020
25 years after Tokyo subway attack, Aum is a shadow of its former self
by Eric Johnston
Doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo's sarin gas attack on Tokyo subway trains shocked Japan and the world, raising concerns over nonstate organizations obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
National / Crime & Legal Mar 23, 2020
In letter, executed former Aum member urged would-be terrorists to halt attacks
Tomomasa Nakagawa penned the letter in English and intended it for an American researcher.