First death sentence for a minor in Japan...Teen killed partner's parent after refusing to confess - South Korean report

This is the first time in Japan's court since the 2022 revision of the Juvenile Law that the perpetrator, who was a teenager at the time of the incident, was sentenced to death. According to Kyodo News and other sources, on the 18th of this month, the district court in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to
Hiroki Endo, who was 19 years old at the time of the crime, was charged with breaking into a building, killing a couple in their 50s, and committing arson.
Japan previously revised its juvenile law in 2022. Youths aged 18 and 19 are defined as ``designated juveniles,'' and when a specified juvenile commits a crime, their name and face must be made public.
This means that they will be released and punished in the same way as adults. Defendant Endo, who was a high school student at the time of the incident in 2021, confessed his feelings to Mr. A, a woman he had a crush on, but when she rejected him, he held a grudge, and in 2021
In the early hours of October 12th, they broke into Mr. A's house, killed Mr. A's sleeping parents with a deadly weapon, and then set the house on fire. Prosecutors say that Endo planned the crime in advance and brutally murdered the couple.
At the trial, he sought the death penalty. In response, the defense attorney argued that, ``At the time of the crime, he was in a state of mental deterioration.'' However, the court ruled that the crime had been planned by preparing the weapon in advance, and that the bereaved family was not told the truth.
He pointed out that there was no sincere apology. After receiving the death sentence, Endo reportedly told the media, ``I would like to apologize to the bereaved family.''
This is the first time a Japanese district court has sentenced a minor to death since the reform of the juvenile law.