Japan Ex-PM Shinzo Abe's Killer Pleads Guilty: Religious Grudge Behind Political Assassination

Tetsuya Yamagami, harboring resentment against Shinzo Abe for his alleged connections to the Unification Church, has admitted guilt in the former prime minister's assassination.

The assailant charged with assassinating Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe entered a guilty plea on Tuesday, three years following the shocking daylight murder that stunned the global community.

The killing prompted a national reckoning in a country largely unfamiliar with firearms violence and sparked intensive examination of alleged connections between prominent conservative politicians and the secretive Unification Church.

"Everything is true," confessed Tetsuya Yamagami at the Nara courthouse, acknowledging his role in murdering Japan's longest-serving political leader in July 2022.

The 45-year-old defendant was escorted into the courtroom by four security personnel.

When requested to identify himself by the judge, Yamagami, dressed in a black T-shirt with his long hair tied back, responded in a voice barely perceptible to those present.

However, his legal representative indicated they would challenge specific allegations, including violations of weapons control laws regarding the allegedly homemade firearm.

Yamagami's trial had been significantly delayed after a suspicious object—later determined harmless—triggered a last-minute cancellation and evacuation of the Nara courthouse in 2023.

A central consideration in the case involves potential mitigating circumstances related to "religious abuse" during Yamagami's childhood, stemming from his mother's extreme devotion to the Unification Church, according to media reports.

Yamagami allegedly harbored animosity toward Abe due to the politician's perceived connections with the Church, an organization established in South Korea in 1954, whose adherents are commonly called "Moonies" after founder Sun Myung Moon.

The Unification Church has faced accusations of encouraging child neglect among its membership and financially exploiting followers—allegations the organization denies.

Yamagami reportedly maintained a grudge against the Church for bankrupting his family after his mother donated approximately 100 million yen (equivalent to $1 million at that time) as demonstration of her religious commitment.

Investigations following Abe's assassination led to mounting revelations regarding intimate connections between the Church and numerous conservative lawmakers within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, resulting in four ministerial resignations.

Earlier this year, Tokyo's District Court issued an order dissolving the Japanese branch of the Church, declaring it had caused "unprecedented damage" to Japanese society.

The assassination served as a stark wake-up call for a nation with some of the world's most restrictive firearms regulations.

Gun violence occurs so infrequently in Japan that security officials present failed to immediately recognize the sound of the initial gunshot, and reached Abe too late to save him, according to a police report compiled after the attack.

This security failure prompted legislators to pass legislation in 2024 further strengthening weapons controls to prevent the fabrication of homemade firearms.

Under the newly implemented regulations, uploading instructional videos on firearm construction or disseminating information about gun sales on social media platforms can result in financial penalties or imprisonment for up to one year.