Is the death penalty making a comeback?

It’s been a busy week for hangmen. In Japan, Tomohiro Kato, a 39-year-old man, was hanged at a Tokyo prison for killing seven people and injuring ten others in a 2008 murderous rampage in which he drove a truck into a crowd before stabbing several other random victims. Kato admitted his guilt and blamed his crime on his alienation from society and insults he had received on social media.

It was the second execution in Japan ordered by the government of prime minister Fumio Kishida, who took office in 2021, after the death penalty had been held in abeyance for several years. However, it’s unlikely to be the last. Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of assassinating former premier Shinzo Abe with a homemade firearm earlier this month, is currently undergoing mental health evaluation. He may also face the death penalty if found to be sane and convicted.

Meanwhile, in Myanmar (formerly Burma) the military junta which took power in a bloody coup last year announced the execution of four activists imprisoned for opposing the regime: the first official judicial deaths there for a quarter of a century.