Japan executes Sunao Takami after his conviction for a 2009 arson attack on a pachinko parlour in Osaka that killed five people, authorities say. The execution takes place on Friday, making it Japan’s first hanging since June 2025.
According to reports, Takami poured petrol onto the pachinko parlour and set it on fire near his home. The attack results in the deaths of five people. One outlet also notes that the hanging follows a period without executions since the death of Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the “Twitter killer,” in June 2025.
While both sources agree on the basic facts—who was executed, the location and date of the attack, and the number of victims—details beyond the core incident are limited in the coverage provided here. Both accounts frame the execution primarily in terms of the case and Japan’s execution pause.
