Japan executes prisoner who killed 7 in Tokyo

Japan on Tuesday executed a man who killed seven people in a vehicle crash and stabbing rampage in a crowded Tokyo shopping district in 2008.

Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa told reporters that Tomohiro Kato was hanged at the Tokyo detention center earlier Tuesday.

Japan has maintained the death penalty despite growing international criticism. Furukawa said capital punishment was a justified response to continuing heinous and violent crime and scrapping it wasn’t appropriate at this point.

Furukawa said Kato had thoroughly prepared to commit the mass killings — “an atrocious act that led to extremely serious consequences and had a major impact on society.”

In the attack, Kato drove down his truck on a street in the Akihabara electronics shopping area, slamming into a crowd of people and killing three pedestrians in June 2008. He then got out of the vehicle and stabbed four people to death. He injured or wounded 10 others.