For the first time in years, Japan has executed a foreign national — a Chinese man who took part in the murdering of a Japanese family in 2003.

The man, named Wei Wei, and two accomplices, also Chinese nationals, tried to rob the home of Japanese businessman Shinjiro Matsumoto. However, the robbery went wrong, leading to Matsuomoto being killed along with his wife and two children, an 11-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl.

Their bodies were discovered in the Hakata Bay of Fukuoka, handcuffed and weighted down. They had been drowned, strangled, and smothered.

Wei Wei was caught and pleaded guilty to four counts of murder but has denied being the central figure in the murders. His two accomplices managed to flee to China where they were detained. One was given a life sentence and the other was executed in 2007.

The death penalty continues to retain popular support in Japan. The condemned are hanged in the country and only told when they will die on the morning that the sentence is carried out.