Tokyo, Aug 2 (IANS): Japan hanged two death row inmates on Friday, the Justice Ministry said, in the country's first executions this year.

The two were identified by the Ministry as Koichi Shoji, 64, who murdered two women in Kanagawa prefecture in 2001, and Yasunori Suzuki, 50, who killed three women in Fukuoka prefecture between 2004 and 2005, reports Kyodo News Agency.

"I ordered the executions based on careful consideration," Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita said at a press conference, noting the two "took away the lives of the victims who had done nothing wrong for very selfish reasons".

Friday's hangings brought the number of executions under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in 2012, to 38.

They follow the executions last December of two men who were involved in the 1988 murder-robbery of the President and an employee of an investment advisory company.

Japan also hanged AUM Shinrikyo cult guru Shoko Asahara and 12 former members of the doomsday cult in July 2018.