The three were identified as Yasutaka Fujishiro, 65, who killed seven of his relatives in Hyogo Prefecture in 2004, and Tomoaki Takanezawa, 54, and Mitsunori Onogawa, 44, who were convicted of killing two employees at two separate pachinko parlors in Gunma Prefecture in 2003.
Following Tuesday's executions, the number of inmates sitting on death row in Japan stands at 107.
The Kobe District Court in western Japan sentenced Fujishiro to death in May 2009 and the decision was finalized in June 2015 after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal.
Takanezawa and Onogawa, who also robbed one of their victims and stole money from one of the pachinko parlors, were sentenced to death by the Saitama District Court near Tokyo.
The death penalty on Takanezawa was finalized in July 2005 after he withdrew his appeal, while Onogawa's sentence was finalized in June 2009 at the Supreme Court.
After the executions, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara told reporters it is "not appropriate to abolish (the country's death penalty system) considering the current situation in which heinous crimes continue to occur."
"Many Japanese think the death penalty is unavoidable in the case of extremely malicious crimes," Kihara said.
More than two-thirds of countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, according to Amnesty International.
Japan hanged three prisoners on Tuesday, its first executions in two years, with the government saying it was necessary to maintain capital punishment in the face of continued "atrocious crimes".
Japan is one of the few developed countries to keep the death penalty, and public support for capital punishment remains high despite international criticism, especially from rights groups.
More than 100 people are currently on death row in Japan, most of them for mass murder. Executions are carried out by hanging, usually long after sentencing.
One of the three executed on Tuesday was Yasutaka Fujishiro, 65, who used a hammer and knife to kill his 80-year-old aunt, two cousins and four others in 2004, a justice ministry spokeswoman told AFP.
The other two were 54-year-old Tomoaki Takanezawa, who killed two clerks at an arcade game parlour in 2003, and his accomplice Mitsunori Onogawa, 44.
The executions were the first under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office in October.
"Whether to keep the death sentence or not is an important issue that concerns the foundation of Japan's criminal justice system," deputy chief cabinet secretary Seiji Kihara said.
"Given that atrocious crimes keep occurring one after another, it is necessary to execute those whose guilt is extremely grave so it is inappropriate to abolish capital punishment."
Members of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations "strongly protest" Tuesday's executions, the body's president Tadashi Ara said in a statement.
Ara urged the government to "abolish capital punishment and stop all executions until it is abolished".
Half a century on death row
Japan executed three death row inmates in 2019 and 15 in 2018 – including 13 from the Aum Shinrikyo cult that carried out a fatal 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.
For decades, authorities have told death row inmates just hours before an execution is carried out.
Two prisoners are suing the government over the system, which they argue is illegal and causes psychological distress.
The pair are also seeking compensation of 22 million yen ($194,000) for the distress caused by living with uncertainty about their execution date.
In December 2020, Japan's top court overturned a ruling blocking the retrial of a man described as the world's longest-serving death row prisoner, raising new hope for the now 85-year-old.
Iwao Hakamada has lived under a death sentence for more than half a century after being convicted in 1968 of robbing and murdering his boss, the man's wife, and their two teenaged children.
But he and his supporters say he confessed to the crime only after an allegedly brutal police interrogation that included beatings, and that evidence in the case was planted.
Worldwide, at least 483 people were executed last year in 18 countries, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International.
That represents a drop of around a quarter from the year before, and fits a downward trend since 2015.
The figure does not, however, include the "thousands" of executions believed to have been carried out in China, which keeps such data secret, along with North Korea and Vietnam.
Japan and the United States are the only members of the G7 group of developed countries that still use the death penalty.
Source: Agence France-Presse, Staff, December 21, 2021
Japan: three prisoners hanged in 'abhorrent' resumption of executions
First executions in country for two years
Death row inmates typically told of their execution only shortly beforehand
‘Today’s abhorrent resumption of executions is a damning indictment of this government’s lack of respect for the right to life’ - Chiara Sangiorgio
Amnesty International has condemned the execution of three prisoners in Japan, the first executions in the country for two years.
The three who were hanged earlier today - Yasutaka Fujishiro, Mitsunori Onogawa and Tomoaki Takanezawa - were the first executions under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who came to power in October.
Yasutaka Fujishiro killed seven of his relatives in 2004, while Mitsunori Onogawa and Tomoaki Takanezawa were convicted of two murders in 2003.
Fujishiro suffered a personality disorder but a court ruled he could be held criminally responsible for his actions. Onogawa had filed a second request for a retrial, with a decision still pending when he was executed. Meanwhile, Takanezawa had previously withdrawn an appeal to the high court filed by his lawyer. His lawyer had requested that the court cancel the withdrawal but his objection was rejected.
Japan’s most recent execution prior to today took place in December 2019, when a Chinese man convicted of four murders was hanged.
Chiara Sangiorgio, Death Penalty Advisor at Amnesty International, said:
“The recent appointment of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was a chance for progress on human rights in Japan. But today’s abhorrent resumption of executions is a damning indictment of this government’s lack of respect for the right to life.
“After two years without executions, this feels like a missed opportunity for Japan to take long overdue steps to abolish the cruel practice of the death penalty.
“More than 100 countries worldwide have completely abolished the death penalty in law, and two-thirds in total have abandoned it in law or practice.
“It is dismaying that Japan bucks this trend by continuing to use this cruel and inhuman punishment. It is high time to establish a moratorium on all executions as a first important step.”
Shrouded in secrecy
Japan is one of a handful of countries that has carried out executions in recent years.
Executions in Japan are shrouded in secrecy, with prisoners typically given only a few hours’ notice and some given no warning at all before their sentences are carried out.
Their families are usually notified about an execution only after it has taken place.
Amnesty has repeatedly called on Japan to establish an immediate official moratorium on all executions as a first step towards total abolition.
Last year, Amnesty recorded 483 executions in 18 countries (excluding China), the lowest number of executions recorded in at least a decade.
Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual, or the method used to carry out the execution.
Source: Amnesty International, Staff, December 21, 2021
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
