In three incidents in December 2004 and January last year, Yasunori Suzuki killed three women - two with a knife and the third strangled with her own scarf.
As well as killing the women, Suzuki, 37, stole the contents of their purses, earning himself a total of 7,000 yen (HK$460).
At his trial before the Fukuoka District Court, the construction worker claimed he had not meant to kill the women, but the judge dismissed his plea and sentenced Suzuki to death on Monday, telling the court: 'There are no extenuating circumstances to be taken into account. The defendant does not have the rationality of a human being, nor does he show any sign of repentance.'
Suzuki's crimes were horrific, but his death sentence is part of a worrying trend, according to human rights groups. His death sentence was one of eight handed down or confirmed by courts within two weeks.
'In the last three years we have seen a clear trend of far stiffer punishments,' said Makoto Teranaka, director of Amnesty International Japan. 'And unfortunately, because around 80 per cent of the Japanese public support the death penalty, it will be quite difficult for us to reverse that.'
There are several reasons for the rise in the support rate for hanging, which stood at 60 per cent in 1993, he says.
'Firstly, there was the case of the Aum Shinrikyo cult releasing sarin gas on the Tokyo subway system in 1995,' Mr Makoto said. 'The sentences in all those cases are ... severe across the board because of the fear it caused amongst the public.'
