2 prisoners executed, including a woman
Sep. 28, 2012 Jiji Press
The Justice Ministry said Thursday two inmates on death row have been executed, including a woman.
She was the first woman to be put to death in Japan in 15 years and the fourth since 1950.
The executions marked the third round this year and the second during the tenure of Justice Minister Makoto Taki. He did not witness the two most recent hangings.
A total of nine people have been executed since the Democratic Party of Japan came to power in September 2009. In the previous round, two prisoners were put to death on Aug. 3.
The latest two are Sachiko Eto, 65, a faith healer who murdered six of her followers, and Yukinori Matsuda, 39, who was found guilty of a double murder and robbery.
A total of 131 inmates remain on death row.
"It has been less than two months since the last executions, but the two latest cases have been in determination for a longer period," Taki said at a news conference. "The ministry will continue to review the capital punishment system."
According to a Supreme Court conviction handing down the death penalty in 2008, Eto beat and kicked her followers in what she claimed was an attempt to rid them of evil spirits.
This led to the death of six people and serious injury for another in Sukagawa, Fukushima Prefecture, from December 1994 to June 1995.
In October 2003, Matsuda stabbed a former butcher he was indebted to as well as his female housemate to death, then robbed them of 80,000 yen. The murders took place in the town of Matsubase, now the city of Uki, in Kumamoto Prefecture.
Matsuda withdrew his appeal in 2009 after being sentenced to death.
Nobuko Hidaka, the last woman to be put to death in Japan, was executed in 1997 for multiple life insurance-related murders.
