Japan hangs foreigner for first time in a decade

Japan is one of just two Group of Seven advanced nations to retain the death penalty - along with the United States - and an overwhelming majority of the public favours it.

Japan has executed its first foreigner in 10 years. Source: AAP

Japan on Thursday hanged a Chinese man convicted of the murder of a family of four whose bodies were found handcuffed and weighted down with dumbbells in a bay, the justice minister announced.

Masako Mori said she ordered the execution of Wei Wei "after careful consideration", over robbery and multiple murders carried out with two other students in 2003.

Wei, a 40-year-old former language student in Japan, had pleaded guilty to the four murder counts but had contended he was not a central figure in the case.

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Wei Wei, 40, was sentenced to death for the murder of a family in Fukuoka.

Japan Times