Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Japan. It is applied in practice only for aggravated murder, although it is also a legal penalty for certain crimes against the state, such as treason and military insubordination, as well as kidnapping resulting in death. Executions are carried out by long drop hanging, and take place at one of the seven execution chambers located in major cities across the country. Death sentences are usually passed in cases of multiple murders, although there have been some cases where individuals who committed a single murder have been sentenced to death and executed, such as those involving torture, or kidnapping with a demand for ransom. Since 2000, 98 inmates have been executed in Japan, with the most recent being the execution of Tomohiro Katō, the perpetrator of the Akihabara massacre in 2008, who was executed on 26 July 2022. There are currently 106 death row inmates awaiting execution. Support for capital punishment has consistently been high among the Japanese public. In 2020, a poll conducted by the Cabinet Office revealed that more than 80% support the continued usage of the death penalty in Japan. History According to the Kojiki, Japan's oldest historical book, the death penalty is believed to have first appeared in Japan in the first half of the 5th century during the reign of Emperor Nintoku. Methods of execution during this period included strangulation, beheading, and burning to death, and in some special cases, the death penalty was carried out and then exposed to public view. The Taihō Code and the Yōrō Code stipulated two methods of capital punishment: beheading and strangulation. In 773, the method of beating to death was added for arsonists and thieves, bringing the total to three methods of capital punishment. The execution of the death penalty required the approval of the emperor. Beginning in the Nara period (710－794), the death penalty was infrequently used, and the death penalty was abolished completely in the Heian period (794－1185). The death penalty was not used for 346 years following the execution of Fujiwara no Nakanari in 810, until it was revived during the Hōgen rebellion of 1156. However, during the Genpei War (1180－1185), the death penalty by sawing and crucifixion may have been carried out. During the Kamakura period (1185－1333), the only method of capital punishment was beheading, and felons in particular were displayed to the public as an example after