Tetsuya Yamagami, the man who assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has been sentenced to life in prison, more than three years after the fatal attack at a rally in Nara in 2022.
Yamagami, who pleaded guilty at the start of his trial last year, faced a court divided over the appropriate punishment. While many regard the 45-year-old as a cold-blooded killer, others view him through the lens of his troubled past.
Prosecutors insisted that Yamagami’s “grave act” warranted life imprisonment in a country where gun violence is almost nonexistent.
Meanwhile, Yamagami’s defence sought leniency, describing him as a victim of “religious abuse.”
His mother’s deep devotion to the Unification Church had left the family financially ruined, fueling Yamagami’s grudge against Abe due to the ex-leader’s connections with the controversial organization.
Nearly 700 people gathered outside Nara district court on Wednesday to witness the sentencing.
Abe’s assassination, which occurred in broad daylight, prompted scrutiny of the Unification Church’s practices, including coercive fundraising, and revealed ties to Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, resulting in multiple cabinet resignations.
Journalist Eito Suzuki, who covered nearly all of Yamagami’s court appearances, described the accused and his family as “overwhelmed with despair” during the trial. Yamagami “exuded a sense of world-weariness and resignation,” Suzuki observed, having investigated the Unification Church long before the killing.
“Everything is true. There is no doubt that I did this,” Yamagami solemnly told the court on the first day of the trial in October 2025. Using a homemade gun crafted from metal pipes and duct tape, he fired two shots at Abe during a campaign event on 8 July 2022.
The murder of Japan’s most prominent political figure, who remains the country’s longest-serving prime minister, shocked the world.
Seeking a sentence of no more than 20 years, Yamagami’s lawyers emphasized his status as a victim of “religious abuse.”
They noted that his mother had donated his late father’s life insurance and other assets, totaling 100 million yen (S$828,750)—to the church.
Yamagami recounted discovering Abe’s ties to the church through a video message in 2021, though he said he had originally planned to target church executives rather than Abe.
Suzuki recalls Abe’s widow, Akie, reacting in disbelief when Yamagami stated that her husband was not his primary target. Her expression “remains vividly etched in my mind,” Suzuki said. “It conveyed a sense of shock, like she was asking: Was my husband merely a tool used to settle a grudge against the religious organisation? Is that all it was?”
In an emotional statement to the court, Akie Abe said the grief of losing her husband “will never be relieved.” She added, “I just wanted him to stay alive.”
Founded in South Korea, the Unification Church arrived in Japan in the 1960s and cultivated relationships with politicians to expand its influence.
Though not a member, Abe occasionally attended church-related events, as did other politicians. Abe’s grandfather, former PM Nobusuke Kishi, was also linked to the group due to its anti-communist stance.
In March last year, a Tokyo court revoked the church’s status as a religious corporation, ruling that it exploited followers’ fears to coerce them into buying expensive items. The church has also been criticized for mass weddings involving thousands of couples.
During the trial, Yamagami’s sister gave tearful testimony about the “dire circumstances she and her siblings endured” because of their mother’s devotion to the church, an intensely emotional moment noted by Suzuki. “Nearly everyone in the public gallery appeared to be crying,” he said.
Prosecutors, however, questioned why Yamagami directed his anger at Abe, calling it “a leap in logic.” Judges also expressed difficulty understanding this defense argument.
Observers remain split over whether Yamagami’s personal suffering should reduce his sentence. Suzuki noted, “It’s hard to dismantle the prosecution’s case that Abe didn’t directly harm Yamagami or his family.” Yet he believes the case highlights how “victims of social problems are led to commit serious crimes. This chain must be broken, we must properly examine why he committed the crime.”
Rin Ushiyama, a sociologist at Queen’s University Belfast, added that sympathy for Yamagami stems from “widespread distrust and antipathy in Japan towards controversial religions like the Unification Church.” She noted, “Yamagami was certainly a ‘victim’ of parental neglect and economic hardship caused by the [Unification Church], but this does not explain, let alone justify, his [actions].”
