Updated on: August 21, 2026 / 7:20 AM EDT
/ CBS/AP
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A man who killed five people by setting fire to a pachinko parlor in 2009 was hanged Friday in Japan's first execution by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government, as the country faces growing calls for more transparency and the abolition of capital punishment. Sunao Takami set fire to the crowded pachinko parlor in Osaka by spreading gasoline and throwing a lit match, engulfing the building, killing five and injuring 10 others, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said. "It caused extremely serious outcomes and dealt a major shock and fear to the society," he told a news conference, adding, "the victims whose lives were taken away must have felt unimaginable pain and fear, and those who suffered injuries ... were forced to live with long-term effects." "As justice minister, I have ordered an execution after careful and thorough considerations," he said. The justice ministry said the hanging took place earlier Friday. Takami, 58, was convicted of murder, attempted murder and arson and sentenced to death in a 2011 Osaka District Court ruling. His appeals were rejected in 2016 by a Supreme Court decision upholding the death penalty.
