Japan executes man behind pachinko parlour arson that killed 5

Execution Carried Out

Japan on Friday executed Sunao Takami, a 58-year-old man on death row convicted of killing five people in a 2009 arson attack, as reported by both The Japan Times and the South China Morning Post. According to The Japan Times, the execution took place in the morning and was the first under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration.

Takami was convicted of pouring gasoline and setting fire to a pachinko parlour near his home in Osaka in July 2009, killing four customers and a worker and injuring 10 others, both outlets reported. The South China Morning Post noted that Takami doused the parlour with petrol before setting it alight. He was arrested the following day after turning himself in, as reported by The Japan Times.

Legal History

Takami's death penalty was finalized in 2016 after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal for leniency, according to The Japan Times. The report added that his defense team had argued that Takami was suffering from a mental disorder and should have limited criminal responsibility.

Capital Punishment Context

The execution marked Japan's first hanging since Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the "Twitter killer," was put to death in June 2025, the South China Morning Post reported. That outlet also noted that Japan and the United States are the only two G7 countries to still use capital punishment.

Public opinion in Japan continues to show majority support for the death penalty. The South China Morning Post reported that a 2024 government survey found 83 per cent of respondents saw the death penalty as "unavoidable," though those favoring abolition had risen to 17 per cent, up from nine per cent five years earlier.

However, the South China Morning Post noted widespread criticism of the system, with death row inmates typically only informed on the morning of their last day that they are about to be hanged. According to justice ministry figures cited by that outlet, there was one execution in 2022, three in 2021, three in 2019 and 15 in 2018, and there are around 100 people on death row.