Yamagami Tetsuy (45), accused of assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial.
This is reported by the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
The motive for the murder was an insult to the religious organization "Unification Church", to which the attackerʼs mother donated about $660 000. Tetsuy considers the church guilty of ruining his family.
The BBC reported that the Unification Church has been linked to the Liberal Democratic Party, led by Shinzo Abe. In particular, an internal investigation found that 179 of its 379 lawmakers had ties to the Unification Church.
In addition, Shinzo Abeʼs father, former Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, helped introduce the church to Japan, Kyodo reports. Abeʼs assassination in 2025 led to the first order for a Japanese court to dissolve the church.
What is known about the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe?
An attacker shot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 8, 2022, during a campaign speech for the upper house of parliament in the western prefecture of Nara, in the central part of Honshu island.
At 17:03 local time, 67-year-old Shinzo Abe died in hospital. The man led the Japanese government for almost eight years — the longest in the countryʼs recent history. However, in September 2020, he resigned due to health problems.
On September 27, Japan held a ceremonial funeral for Shinzo Abe — the urn with his ashes was placed in a wooden box wrapped in purple cloth with gold stripes. At the same time, several thousand protesters gathered in Tokyo with placards — they were dissatisfied with the costs of the ceremony, which amounted to almost $11.4 million.
What is the "Unification Church"?
The "Unification Church" or the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity is one of the most influential religious organizations in the world, founded by Korean public figure Moon Sun Myung in 1954 in Seoul.
Its beliefs combine elements of Christianity and Eastern religious practices. Due to disagreements with dogmas, the church is often classified as a pseudo-Christian religious organization.
Author: Anastasia Zaikova
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