Tokyo (dpa) – Japan executed three inmates Thursday morning, local media reported, citing unnamed Justice Ministry sources. The executions were the first to be carried out since July 2010. those occurred under former justice minister Keiko Chiba, who had opposed capital punishment before taking the position. The ministry in the past has declined to identify who was executed and where executions were carried out. Japan had carried out executions every year from 1994 to 2010. Japan and the United States are two of the few major industrial countries that still impose death sentences. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/2bFCv Tags: Death Penalty, Execution, Japan Section: East Asia, Human Rights, Latest News