(Central News Agency reporter Dai Yazhen, Tokyo, 21st) Japan’s Ministry of Justice this morning executed the death penalty for the 58-year-old arsonist Takami Moinao who set a fire at a commercial pachinko shop in Osaka’s Nakahana District in 2009, killing five people and injuring 10 others. This is the second execution of the death penalty in Japan after about a year and two months since June 2025. It is also the first execution since the Takaichi Sanae regime came to power.
The Asahi Shimbun and TBS reported that according to the final verdict, On July 5, 2009, Takami Sonao poured gasoline on a pachinko shop near his home and set it on fire. A total of 5 people, 4 customers and 1 employee, were burned to death, and 10 others were slightly seriously injured. He turned himself in the day after the incident and was charged with homicide, arson and other crimes.
During the trial of the case, the defense argued that Gao Jian was "influenced by delusions and his ability to be criminally responsible when committing the crime was limited." However, the first instance of the Osaka District Court in 2011 and the second instance of the Osaka High Court in 2013 both found that he had full capacity for criminal responsibility and were sentenced to death.
The Supreme Court rejected the appeal in 2016 and sentenced him to death. The Supreme Court pointed out that because Gao Jian "could not find an ideal new job and was in trouble in life, he became dissatisfied with the status quo, and then he had the idea of revenge on the public and decided to commit the crime."
The verdict held that he continued to find a job and thought about his future life before committing the crime, so delusion had little impact on the crime, and described the case as "a planned and indiscriminate killing with extremely cruel methods and egregious circumstances."
In addition, the first instance of this case was heard under the referee system. The defense argued at that time that execution by hanging violated Article 36 of the Japanese Constitution prohibiting cruel punishment. This is also the first time in Japan that "whether hanging is unconstitutional" has been heard in a referee trial. The Osaka District Court ultimately determined that hanging was "constitutional," and the second instance and the Supreme Court also upheld the same judgment.
The last execution in Japan was in June 2025, when the Ministry of Justice executed Takahiro Shiraishi. Shiraishi was sentenced to death for the murder of nine men and women in Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture in 2017, involving crimes such as robbery and forced sexual intercourse and homicide. Before Shiraishi, Japan had not carried out an execution for nearly 2 years and 11 months, which was the longest interval since Japan began to announce the facts and number of executions in 1998.
Japan's death penalty system has continued to trigger discussions in recent years. The "Reflections on Japan's Death Penalty System Symposium", chaired by Chuo University Emeritus Professor Ryo Ida, made recommendations in 2024. It believed that there are many problems with the current death penalty system and its operation, and called on the National Assembly or the Cabinet to set up a special agency to conduct a fundamental review of the system.
In the same year, Iwa Hakamada, who was once sentenced to death in the 1966 murder case of a family of four in Shizuoka Prefecture, was acquitted in a retrial, which once again triggered discussions in Japanese society about the death penalty system, the risk of unjust cases, and the method of execution.
