Japan has carried out the execution of Sunao Takami, 58, the man convicted of setting fire to a crowded pachinko parlor in Osaka in 2009, a deadly attack that killed five people and injured 10 others.
Takami was hanged on Friday, August 21, 2026, marking Japan’s first execution since June 2025 and the first carried out under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration.
The execution was confirmed by Japan’s Justice Ministry. Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said he ordered the execution only after what he described as careful and thorough consideration, citing the severity of the crime and its impact on the victims, survivors and society.
The 2009 Osaka Fire
The case dates back to July 5, 2009, when Takami set fire to a pachinko parlor in Osaka’s Konohana Ward.
According to authorities and court findings reported by multiple news organizations, Takami spread gasoline inside the crowded establishment and ignited it with a match. The resulting blaze killed five people and injured 10 others.
The attack occurred while the pachinko parlor was crowded with customers. The incident became one of Osaka’s most serious mass-casualty arson cases and eventually led to a lengthy legal battle over Takami’s responsibility and sentence.
Takami was convicted of murder, attempted murder and arson and sentenced to death by the Osaka District Court in 2011. His appeals ultimately failed, with Japan’s Supreme Court upholding the death sentence in 2016.
A Death Sentence That Took 17 Years to Carry Out
Nearly 17 years after the deadly fire, Takami’s execution brings the case to its final legal chapter.
Japanese authorities said the execution took place at the Osaka detention facility on Friday morning. Japanese media, including Jiji Press and The Japan Times, reported the execution as the country’s first in approximately 14 months.
The case has also drawn attention because of arguments surrounding Takami’s mental state.
His defense had argued that he was affected by delusions and mental illness. A six-member lay-judge panel and three professional judges rejected the defense argument during the original proceedings, and subsequent appeals did not overturn the death sentence.
Japan’s Death Penalty Back in the Spotlight
Takami’s execution has renewed debate over Japan’s continued use of capital punishment.
Japan remains one of only two G7 nations—the other being the United States—that retains and carries out the death penalty. The country has faced increasing international criticism from groups calling for abolition or greater transparency surrounding executions.
According to Justice Minister Hiraguchi, Japan now has 100 people on death row, including 43 who are seeking retrials.
Japan’s execution system has also long been criticized for its secrecy. Death-row prisoners are generally informed of their execution only on the day it is carried out. Hiraguchi defended the existing practice, saying greater advance disclosure could negatively affect prisoners’ mental state.
The timing of Friday’s execution also attracted scrutiny because Japan’s parliament was in recess. Critics questioned whether the timing reduced opportunities for public discussion, although the justice minister denied that the execution was deliberately scheduled for that reason.
The Broader Debate
The execution comes less than two years after the acquittal of Iwao Hakamada, who had spent decades on death row before being cleared in a retrial. His case has intensified calls for greater safeguards in Japan’s criminal justice system.
Japan’s previous execution took place in June 2025, when Takahiro Shiraishi, convicted of killing nine people in a case that became known internationally as the “Twitter killer” case, was put to death.
For the victims’ families and survivors of the 2009 Osaka fire, Friday’s execution closes a legal process that lasted more than a decade.
But the case is likely to remain part of Japan’s larger national debate over whether capital punishment should continue—and whether the country’s secretive execution procedures should change.
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