A 44-year-old convicted murderer was executed by hanging on Thursday after six years on death row, the first execution authorized by Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa since she acceded to the post last October.

The last time Japan put an inmate to death was in August 2014, and Thursday's execution left a total of 130 inmates on death row, the Justice Ministry said.

The executed convict was Tsukasa Kanda. In August 2007, he and two other men abducted a 31-year-old woman in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, and murdered her.