Hardship of Families of the Assassin of Abe
The trials for assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe is revealing problems of assassin’s family which was fundamentally exploited by a religious organization, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), or former Unification Church. The mother of defendant Tetsuya Yamagami admitted that her donation for FFWPU pushed her son into a hard situation to live, identifying herself as causing the incident.
Three years have passed until the trial on Yamagami started in late October, since Abe was shot to death in his campaign rally in a city of Nara prefecture on July 8th, 2022. In the first trial at Nara District Court, Yamagami admitted that he had shot Abe. His lawyers argued that Yamagami did not spend ordinary life as his mother had heavily been obsessed with activity of the religious group.
Yamagami’s mother appeared to the seventh trial and later and made testimonies. She apologized to the families of Abe for her son’s deed. However, she identified herself as a follower of FFWPU so far. Then she told about how she had been involved in the religion. According to her testimony, her husband killed himself in 1984, leaving his wife, first son, Yamagami as the second and a daughter. The first son had a congenital brain disease.
It was July 1991, when a young woman visited Yamagami’s house, listening to the situation of the family from his mother, and brought her to a facility of FFWPU to examine what caused unhappiness of the Yamagamis. She was told that disease can be brought with corruption of humans. She donated 20 million yen to the organization with hope of God’s saving.
Mother donated 50 million yen in first several months and bought porcelains and paintings that were said to have spiritual power. After death of her father, who were skeptical about the religion, Yamagami’s mother donated additional 40 million yen by selling the house and land property.
She frequently visited Republic of Korea where the headquarters of FFWPU were, leaving her children behind. She was so obsessed with religious activities that her children could not go to college. Her daughter testified that she was told to make money for herself, when she told mother her hope to go to college. Yamagami once accused of mother’s visits to South Korea, spending a large amount of money. She apologized on that. Yamagami’s mother was bankrupted in 2002. It was the year when Yamagami entered Self-defense Force.
She was in South Korea when Yamagami made an attempt of suicide in 2005. His elder brother became violent to his mother and killed himself in 2015. He felt responsible for his mother’s donation hoping to save him. Yamagami has long had no relationship with his mother after he made a suicide.
It is was reported that Yamagami shot Abe, acknowledging Abe’s connection with FFWPU. Yamagami’s sister immediately recognized Yamagami when he was arrested, because she did not feel strange about that Yamagami targeted Abe. His mother tried to protect Yamagami in her testimony, saying that he had been a kind son. She insisted that the true offender was not her son but herself.
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