Arabic version: اليابان تُعدم رجلاً أُدين بحريق صالة باتشينكو في أوساكا

According to ABC News, Japan has executed Sunao Takami, who was convicted of murder, attempted murder and arson over a 2009 fire at a pachinko parlour in Osaka that killed five people and injured 10 others.

The Justice Ministry said Takami, 58, was hanged earlier Friday, in the first execution under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government. Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said Takami spread gasoline in the crowded parlour and threw a lit match, engulfing the building.

Takami was sentenced to death in a 2011 Osaka District Court ruling. His appeals were rejected in 2016, when the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence. Hiraguchi said the crime caused “extremely serious outcomes” and brought major shock and fear to society.

Japan has 100 people on death row, including 43 seeking retrials, Hiraguchi said. The country faces growing criticism over capital punishment. Japan and the United States are the only G7 countries that carry out executions, which are conducted in secrecy and generally not disclosed to prisoners until the morning of their hanging.

Hiraguchi said he did not intend to change the disclosure practice, arguing that more details could disturb death-row inmates’ mental state. He also defended hanging as a valid execution method, citing past Supreme Court decisions.