Japan has carried out its first execution in nearly three years, hanging Takahiro Shiraishi, the man known as the "Twitter killer" who murdered and dismembered nine people in 2017.
The 30-year-old was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing eight women and one man in his flat near Tokyo.
He had contacted his victims through Twitter after they posted about suicidal thoughts, offering to help them die.
The execution comes amid growing debate about capital punishment in Japan, particularly following the acquittal last year of Iwao Hakamada, who spent 56 years on death row before being freed when evidence showed police had falsified and planted evidence against him.
Japan has carried out its first execution in nearly three years, hanging Takahiro Shiraishi.
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Eight of Shiraishi's victims were women, including teenagers, whom he raped before killing them.
The ninth victim was the boyfriend of one of the women whom Shiraishi murdered to prevent him from speaking out.
Police discovered the remains of eight females and one male stored in cold-storage cases in Shiraishi's flat when they arrested him in 2017.
Investigators revealed that Shiraishi had approached his victims through Twitter, presenting himself as someone who could help them with their suicidal wishes.
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Japan's Minister of Justice Keisuke Suzuki speaks during a press conference regarding the execution of death row inmate Takahiro Shiraishi, at the Ministry of Justice in Tokyo on June 27, 2025
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He used the social media platform to identify vulnerable people who had posted about wanting to end their lives, then arranged to meet them under the pretence of assisting with their deaths.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, who authorised the hanging, said he reached his decision after careful consideration, describing Shiraishi's motive as "extremely selfish" for crimes that "caused great shock and unrest to society".
Suzuki said: "It is not appropriate to abolish the death penalty while these violent crimes are still being committed."
The execution highlights Japan's continued use of capital punishment despite international criticism and domestic calls for abolition.
Policemen inspecting the apartment where the nine dismembered corpses were found
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The debate intensified following Hakamada's case, where a retrial revealed police misconduct in the 1966 murders of his employer, the employer's wife and their two children.
According to the justice minister, 105 inmates currently remain on death row in Japan.
The last UK execution in the UK took place in August 1964.
The punishment became illegal in Britain in 1998 but remains in law in several countries around the globe.
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