The man who killed Japan\u2019s former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been sentenced to life in prison, three and a half years after he fatally shot the ex-leader during a rally in the city of Nara in 2022.<\/p>\n
Tetsuya Yamagami himself pleaded guilty to the crime at the trial\u2019s opening last year,but what punishment he deserves has divided public opinion in Japan.While many see the 45-year-old as a cold-blooded murderer, some sympathise with his troubled upbringing.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said Yamagami deserved life imprisonment for his \u201cgrave act\u201d. Abe\u2019s assassination stunned the country where there is virtually no gun crime.<\/p>\n
Seeking leniency, Yamagami\u2019s defence team said he was a victim of \u201creligious abuse\u201d.<\/p>\n
His mother\u2019s devotion to the Unification Church bankrupted the family, and Yamagami bore a grudge against Abe after realising the ex-leader\u2019s ties to the controversial church.<\/p>\n
Nearly 700 people lined up outside the Nara district court on Wednesday to attend the sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n
Abe\u2019s shocking death while giving a speech in broad daylight prompted investigations into the Unification Church and its questionable practices, including soliciting financially ruinous donations from its followers.<\/p>\n
The case also exposed links with politicians from Japan\u2019s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and resulted in the resignations of several cabinet ministers.<\/p>\n
Journalist Eito Suzuki, who covered all but one of Yamagami\u2019s court hearings, said Yamagami and his family seemed \u201coverwhelmed with despair\u201d throughout the trial.<\/p>\n
Yamagami \u201cexuded a sense of world-weariness and resignation\u201d, recounts Suzuki, who began looking into the Unification Church long before Abe\u2019s shocking murder.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is true. There is no doubt that I did this,\u201d Yamagami said solemnly on the first day of his trial in October 2025. Armed with a homemade gun assembled using two metal pipes and duct tape, he fired two shots at Abe during a political campaign event in the western city of Nara on 8 July 2022.<\/p>\n
The murder of Japan\u2019s most recognisable public figure at the time \u2013 Abe remains the longest-serving PM in Japanese history \u2013 sent shockwaves around the world.<\/p>\n
Calling for a jail term of no more than 20 years, Yamagami\u2019s lawyers argued that he was a victim of \u201creligious abuse\u201d. He resented the church because his mother donated to it his late father\u2019s life insurance and other assets, amounting to 100 million yen (S$828,750), the court heard.<\/p>\n
Yamagami spoke of his grievance against Abe after seeing his video message at a church-related event in 2021, but said he had initially planned to attack church executives, not Abe.<\/p>\n
Suzuki recalls Abe\u2019s widow Akie\u2019s look of disbelief when Yamagami said the ex-leader was not his main target. Her expression \u201cremains vividly etched in my mind\u201d, Suzuki says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
In an emotional statement read to the court, Akie Abe said the sorrow of losing her husband \u201cwill never be relieved\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted him to stay alive,\u201d she had said.<\/p>\n
Founded in South Korea, the Unification Church entered Japan in the 1960s and cultivated ties with politicians to grow its following, researchers say.<\/p>\n
While not a member, Abe, like several other Japanese politicians, would occasionally appear at church-related events. His grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, also a former PM, was said to have been close to the group because of its anti-communist stance.<\/p>\n
In March last year, a Tokyo court revoked the church\u2019s status as a religious corporation, ruling that it coerced followers into buying expensive items by exploiting fears about their spiritual well-being.<\/p>\n
The church has also drawn controversy for holding mass wedding ceremonies involving thousands of couples.<\/p>\n
Yamagami\u2019s sister, who appeared as a defence witness during his trial, gave a tearful testimony on the \u201cdire circumstances she and her siblings endured\u201d because of their mother\u2019s deep involvement with the church, Suzuki recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an intensely emotional moment. Nearly everyone in the public gallery appeared to be crying,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
But prosecutors argue there is \u201ca leap in logic\u201d as to why Yamagami directed his resentment of the church at Abe. During the trial, the judges also raised questions suggesting they found it hard to understand this aspect of his defence.<\/p>\n
Observers, too, are divided on whether Yamagami\u2019s personal tragedies justify a reduced penalty for his actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to dismantle the prosecution\u2019s case that Abe didn\u2019t directly harm Yamagami or his family,\u201d Suzuki says.<\/p>\n
But he believes Yamagami\u2019s case illustrates how \u201cvictims of social problems are led to commit serious crimes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis chain must be broken, we must properly examine why he committed the crime,\u201d Suzuki says.<\/p>\n
Rin Ushiyama, a sociologist at Queen\u2019s University Belfast, says sympathy for Yamagami is largely rooted in \u201cwidespread distrust and antipathy in Japan towards controversial religions like the Unification Church\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYamagami was certainly a \u2018victim\u2019 of parental neglect and economic hardship caused by the [Unification Church], but this does not explain, let alone justify, his [actions],\u201d Ushiyama says.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The man who killed Japan\u2019s former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been sentenced to life in prison, three and a half years after he fatally shot the ex-leader during a rally in the city of Nara in 2022. Tetsuya Yamagami himself pleaded guilty to the crime at the trial\u2019s opening last year,but what punishment he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}