Japan has carried out the execution of Takahiro Shiraishi, known in the media as the “Twitter Killer,”who was convicted of murdering and dismembering nine individuals he met through social media. This marks the country’s first execution since 2022.
Shiraishi, 34, was hanged on Friday for the 2017 killings, which targeted mostly young women who had expressed suicidal thoughts online. Using Twitter (now X), he lured his victims with false promises of helping them die or accompanying them in death.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki confirmed that Shiraishi committed multiple crimes including murder, rape, robbery, and the desecration of corpses. “The victims were strangled, mutilated, and some body parts hidden in boxes or dumped,” Suzuki said, describing the murders as acts driven by **sexual and financial motives**.
The case shocked Japan and led to intense public discourse around online safety and mental health. His trial, which concluded in 2020, resulted in a death sentence. Although his lawyers argued the victims had consented due to their suicidal ideation, the court rejected the defense, calling the acts “cold and calculated.” The presiding judge stated that Shiraishi had exploited emotionally vulnerable individuals, showing no regard for their dignity.
The crimes came to light after the family of a missing 23-year-old woman—who had tweeted about suicide—tracked her online activity and alerted authorities, leading police to Shiraishi’s apartment near Tokyo, where they discovered human remains concealed in toolboxes with cat litter.
Japan, alongside the United States, remains one of the few G7 nations that still enforces capital punishment. Currently, around 100 inmates await execution, though many remain on death row for years. Executions in Japan are conducted by hanging, often with minimal prior notice to inmates or their families.
Shiraishi’s execution follows other high-profile cases, including the 2022 hanging of Tomohiro Kato, responsible for a 2008 Tokyo stabbing rampage, and the 2018 executions of Shoko Asahara and his cult members behind the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack.
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