Japan executes pachinko parlour arsonist: Reports

TOKYO – Japan executed on Aug 21 a man convicted of an arson attack on a pachinko parlour in 2009 that killed five people, local media reported.It was Japan’s first hanging since Takahiro Shiraishi, the “Twitter killer” who murdered and dismembered nine people, was put to death in June 2025.Sunao Takami, the man reportedly executed on Aug 21, doused a pachinko parlour in Osaka near his home with petrol and set it on fire, killing four customers and one employee.The Justice Ministry declined to comment.Japan and the United States are the only two G-7 countries to still use capital punishment, and surveys suggest there is strong support among the Japanese public.However, there is widespread criticism of the system, with death row inmates typically informed only on the morning of their last day that they are about to be hanged.There was one execution in 2022, three in 2021, three in 2019 and 15 in 2018, the Justice Ministry told AFP in 2025. AFP