Trial on Assassin of Abe Starts

As three years have passed since former prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated, a trial for defendant Tetsuya Yamagami, who were charged with crime of murder, started in Nara District Court on October 28th. Yamagami admitted his murder of Abe and pleaded guilty for it. The court is going to hand out a sentence on January 21th, 2026, going through eighteen more trials by the end of this year.

Abe was shot and killed on July 8th, 2022, when he was making a speech for a candidate of Liberal Democratic Party in the Upper House election campaign at a crossing in front of Yamato Saidaiji station, Nara. The police arrested Yamagami, who were at the venue, with suspicion of murder by shooting Abe with his hand-made gun. “He boldly killed former prime minister in daytime, bringing an unprecedented consequence in post-war history,” said the public prosecutors in the trial.

 

Considering this case’s great influence on Japanese society, the court carefully made legal procedure on Yamagami. It took six months before starting pretrial proceeding for psychiatric evaluation on Yamagami and other preparations. The pretrial proceeding took two years to determine the points of dispute between the public prosecutors and lawyers for the defendant, Yamagami.

 

The main point at the trial is why Yamagami killed Abe. According to the report of the public prosecutors, Yamagami’s mother joined a religious institution, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), former Unification Church, in 1991 after his father killed himself. As his mother was deeply involved in activities of the institution, with donation amounting to 100 million yen. Yamagami thought that his unintended life was caused by the institution.

 

Although Yamagami firstly aimed at some leaders of FFWPU as vengeance on his family’s collapse, preparing for injuring them with handmade guns, he shifted his target to former prime minister Abe, who had been sending messages to the events of some organizations related to FFWPU. Yamagami thought that the people in Japan would realize what the institution had done to his family.

 

Yamagami’s murder of Abe ignited broad criticisms against FFWPU of its excessive instigation for donation. Many families of the followers stood up accusing the institution. Ministry of Culture made research on FFWPU exercising its authority to ask questions for the first time to a religious organization. Tokyo District Court issued an order of dissolution to FFWPU in March 2025.

 

The public prosecutors assume that Yamagami committed not only a murder, but violation of Sword and Firearms Control Law, Weapons Manufacturing Act or Explosives Control Act. Yamagami’s lawyer are disputing with argument that his handmade gun was not a weapon and not categorized as a crime of shooting gun in a public space.

 

The court will hear the details of motivation of shooting Abe and how his negative sentiment against FFWPU caused the murder. People are closely watching what kind of penalty the public prosecutors will demand and how the court assesses it.

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