Japan hanged three inmates on Thursday, the first executions since July 2010, the Ministry of Justice said.

Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa gave the execution order of the three convicted multiple murderers and they were hanged at detention houses in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, according to the ministry.

Local media reported that one of the executed men was guilty of killing five people and injuring 10 others at a train station in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan in 1999.

It is the second executions carried out under the government led by the ruling Democratic Party. In 2010, the then Justice Minister Keiko Chiba authorized the hanging of two inmates. Japan used to see executions taking place every year from 1994 to 2010.

Ogawa told a press briefing that authorizing execution orders was a justice minister's duty stipulated by law. He said that the death penalty was supported by the general public.

A survey conducted by the Japanese government showed in February 2010 that about 86 percent of respondents backed up the death penalty.

The justice minister, who took up the post in a cabinet reshuffle in January, stopped short of explaining the reason why the three prisoners were chosen.

Japan's top government spokesperson Osamu Fujimura commented that Ogawa's views complied with the basic policy of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet regarding the issue of the death penalty.

After the latest executions, the number of death row inmates in Japan stands at 132, Kyodo News reported, citing the ministry.

Japan is one of a few developed countries to carry out the death penalty.

Amnesty International said in a report released on its website on Tuesday that at least 676 people were executed worldwide in 2011.

The United States executed 43 inmates, being the only member of the G8 group of leading economies to carry out the death penalty in the recording year, according to the report.