Tomohiro Kato was found guilty of killing 7 people in the attack on the famous Akihabara area of Tokyo.
In Japan in 2008, a person found guilty of killing 7 people as a result of a stabbing in the famous Akihabara electronics district of Tokyo was executed.
Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said Tomohiro Kato made “meticulous preparations” for the attack and showed “strong intent” to kill.
“The death sentence in this case was concluded after sufficient discussion in the court,” he said.
“Based on this fact, after an extremely thorough review, I approved the execution.”
The June 2008 attackThe incident, in which 10 people were injured, started when Kato’s truck drove into the crowd. After stabbing several people, the then 25-year-old was arrested at the scene, telling police: “I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn’t matter who I killed.”
Police said he documented his trip to Akihabara on Internet bulletin boards, texted on his cell phone from the back of his truck, and complained about his erratic job and loneliness.
Japan’s highest court upheld Kato’s death sentence in 2015, saying there was “no basis for leniency.” The attack was the worst mass killing in the country in the last 7 years.
The son of a banker, Kato grew up in northern Japan’s Aomori Prefecture, where he graduated from a top high school. According to information, he failed the university entrance exams and eventually studied as a car mechanic.
Prosecutors said Kato’s self-confidence plummeted after a woman he had been chatting with online stopped emailing him after noticing his picture.
Prosecutors said his anger at the general public grew when his online comments, including plans for murder, drew no response.
While waiting for the trial, Kato wrote a letter to the 56-year-old taxi driver he stabbed and expressed his regret.
The victims “enjoyed their lives and had dreams, bright futures, warm families, lovers, friends and colleagues,” Kato wrote in an op-ed published in the Shukan Asahi weekly.
Kato’s execution is the first in Japan this year and follows In December 2021, three prisoners were hanged. These were the first executions in the country in the last two years.
The death penalty in Japan is shrouded in secrecy. According to Amnesty International, those on death row may learn that their sentence will be carried out hours before, or sometimes not at all, while their families are usually informed only afterwards.
The Amnesty organization, which is against the death penalty in all cases, says that the general trend in the world continues towards the death penalty. abolition of the death penalty.
