Japan hanged three inmates Thursday in the first executions under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government, dpa quoted the Justice Ministry as saying. The ministry identified the three as Kaoru Kobayashi, 44; Masahiro Kanagawa, 29; and Keiki Kano, 62. The executions were carried out in Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya, respectively. Kobayashi kidnapped a 7-year-old girl in 2004 and molested and killed her. He later sent a text to her mother with her photo, saying, "Got her." One month later, he also texted, "[I] will get her younger sister this time." Kanagawa stabbed a 72-year-old man to death in 2006 and four days later used a knife to kill one person and injure seven at a railway station. Kano in 2002 strangled a 61-year-old manager of a bar in Nagoya and stole her money. Kano killed another woman in 1983 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The executions were the first since September. Japan carried out seven in 2012 under premier Yoshihiko Noda. Abe took office in late December. No one was executed in 2011. Japan and the United States are among the few major industrialized democracies that still impose death sentences. "It is not necessary to review" capital punishment in Japan, Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Thursday. "If there are problems, we would have to improve them," he said. Japan has more than 130 death row inmates, including Shoko Asahara, the founder of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, and his followers. The members were give death sentences in the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 13 and made thousands ill.
