Zhou Jiasheng, 52, was found guilty of murder and wounding by the Suzhou intermediate people’s court in the eastern Chinese city where the attack took place in July last year.
While the court did not give a detailed explanation of his motives, the news agency Kyodo reported that a Japanese foreign ministry official had told reporters that Zhou lost the will to live after losing his job and getting into debt.
There was no word on whether he would appeal.
Zhou appeared in court on Thursday morning for a brief hearing, which lasted for about 10 minutes and was attended by Masaru Okada, the Japanese consul-general in Shanghai, along with other diplomatic staff.
The case has attracted considerable attention in Japan and many journalists gathered in front of the court building for the hearing.
