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The Justice Ministry carried out the hanging of the 58-year-old Takami, who had poured gasoline on the floor of the gaming venue near his home in the Konohana ward before igniting it on July 5, 2009. The fire claimed the lives of four customers and one employee while injuring 10 others, according to court records and multiple reports including those from Nippon.com and The Straits Times. Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said in a statement that authorities ordered the execution after careful and thorough consideration, framing the decision as the first such action under the Takaichi administration.
A six-member jury joined by three judges rejected the defence claim that Takami was mentally ill at the time, issuing a death sentence in 2011 that an Osaka District Court upheld after he admitted to premeditation. Studies of the case by academic David T. Johnson noted that the perpetrator acted out of anger over employment struggles, financial debts and a fixation on a nonexistent woman he blamed for his troubles, even stating repeatedly that he would accept execution. The incident formed part of a pattern in which Japanese courts impose capital punishment for premeditated murders claiming multiple lives, a criterion met in this instance.
This execution follows the June 2025 hanging of Takahiro Shiraishi, convicted of murdering and dismembering nine people, which had been the most recent prior instance according to government tallies tracked by international monitors. As of late June 2025, Japanese authorities held 105 inmates on death row, a total that reflects selective application of the penalty rather than routine use. The country resumed executions in 2025 after a hiatus, contributing to a global rise documented in Amnesty International’s annual review that counted at least 2,707 executions worldwide that year.
A Cabinet Office survey conducted in 2024 and released the following year found that 83.1 percent of respondents viewed the death penalty as unavoidable, continuing a trend of strong public support across five successive polls despite methodological shifts to mailed questionnaires. That backing persists even as Japan and the United States remain the only G7 nations to retain capital punishment, a distinction highlighted in reports from the Death Penalty Information Center. Rights organisations have repeatedly criticised prolonged solitary confinement for inmates and the practice of notifying them of their impending hanging only hours beforehand.
Amnesty International and similar groups have pointed to a lack of transparency in the scheduling of executions, which leaves families and legal teams with little warning. The ministry’s announcement on Friday provided limited additional details beyond confirmation of the act itself, consistent with standard procedure. Takami’s case, which spanned more than 15 years from the 2009 attack to its resolution, underscores the deliberate pace that characterises Japan’s capital punishment system.
