Japan has hanged Tsutomu Miyazaki, 45, its most notorious cannibal. He was a serial killer who mutilated four little girls, ate the hand of one and drank the blood of another. He killed the girls, aged four to seven, in the late 1980s.

One of the victims was burned and her bones left at the door of her parent’s home. Two other men were also hanged on the same day. One was Shinji Matsuda, who killed two people after robbing them.

Also hanged was Yoshio Yamnasaki who killed two to recover their insurance policy monies. 13 have been executed in the last six months in Japan. The 2005 total was one hanged. This changed once Japan had a pro-death penalty justice minister installed.