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Japan executes 58-year-old man convicted of killing five in 2009 Osaka pachinko parlor arson
Takami was Japan’s first execution since June 2025, and a 2024 government survey found 83% of respondents saw the death penalty as unavoidable.
- On Friday, August 21, Japan executed Sunao Takami for a 2009 arson attack on an Osaka pachinko parlor that killed five people, authorities said.
- The hanging is Japan's first since Takahiro Shiraishi, the "Twitter killer," was executed in June 2025; Takami doused the parlor with petrol before igniting it.
- There are around 100 inmates on death row, though Japanese law requires executions within six months of final verdict; inmates learn of execution only on the morning of death.
- In a 2024 government survey, 83 per cent saw the death penalty as "unavoidable," though support for abolition rose to 17 per cent from 9 per cent five years earlier.
- Japan and the United States remain the only Group of Seven countries using capital punishment; campaigners criticize the system for "hostage justice" and cite wrongful convictions like Iwao Hakamada's.
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Nettavisen
NettavisenEn mann i Japan er henrettetetter å ha blitt dømt for å ha satt fyr på en spillehall og tatt livet av fem personer.
·Oslo, Norway
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Japan executed 58-year-old Sunao Takami, who committed the 2009 attack on a pachinko parlor in Osaka, resulting in five deaths. This marks the first execution in over a year.
The first execution of a death row inmate under the Sanae Takaichi government
·Marousi, Greece
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Japan executes death row inmate, 1st since Takaichi took office
Japan on Friday hanged a man convicted of killing five people in an arson attack on a pachinko parlor in the western Japanese city of Osaka in 2009, the justice minister said, making it the first execution under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
·Tokyo, Japan
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left0Leaning Right5Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center, 50% Right
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center, 50% of the sources lean Right
50% Right
C 50%
R 50%
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