Man who assassinated former Japanese prime minister gets life in prison

A Japanese court on Wednesday sentenced Tetsuya Yamagami to life imprisonment for the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, concluding a case that exposed decades-long connections between Japan’s ruling party and the controversial Unification Church.

Yamagami, 45, had pleaded guilty to murder during his trial that began in October. The Nara District Court delivered the verdict, accepting prosecutors’ recommendation for a life sentence. Defense attorney Takashi Fujimoto called the decision “regrettable,” noting it failed to consider their request for leniency based on Yamagami’s difficult upbringing. The legal team is now considering an appeal.

The assassination shocked Japan, a nation with strict gun control laws. Abe was delivering a campaign speech in Nara when Yamagami shot him with a homemade weapon. Television footage captured the moment: two gunshots rang out as Abe raised his fist, before he collapsed, his shirt smeared with blood. Officials reported he died almost instantly.

Yamagami told investigators his attack was motivated by a desire to expose ties between Japanese politicians and the Unification Church, which he blamed for his troubled childhood. He specifically targeted Abe after seeing the former leader in a video message for a church-affiliated group.

“I had no grudge against his family,” Yamagami reportedly told the court in an earlier session, apologizing to Abe’s widow, Akie Abe.

Prosecutors sought life imprisonment, citing the attack’s seriousness and the danger it posed to bystanders at the crowded campaign venue. Defense lawyers requested a maximum sentence of 20 years, highlighting Yamagami’s traumatic childhood. While Japanese law permits the death penalty in murder cases, prosecutors typically reserve such requests for cases involving multiple victims.

The assassination investigation revealed extensive connections between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the South Korean-based Unification Church, dating back to anti-communist movements in the 1960s supported by Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. These revelations forced the LDP to distance itself from the church and triggered investigations into the organization’s fundraising and recruitment practices.

The scrutiny ultimately led to a court decision stripping the church’s Japanese branch of its tax-exempt religious status and ordering its dissolution—a ruling the church has since appealed.

Abe, a political blue blood from a prominent family, was Japan’s longest-serving postwar leader, holding power for nine years before stepping down in 2021. He led the largest faction of the governing party and was known for his arch-conservative views on security and historical issues. His political legacy continues through protégé Sanae Takaichi, who in October became Japan’s first female prime minister.

The case garnered unusual public sympathy for Yamagami, particularly among those critical of the Unification Church. Investigators revealed that Yamagami’s mother joined the church when he was young and made massive donations that bankrupted the family while neglecting her children. Experts note that Japanese followers were often pressured to pay for “sins” committed by their ancestors during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of Korea, with the majority of the church’s worldwide funding reportedly coming from Japan.

The church has acknowledged past problems with excessive donations but claims reforms implemented in 2009 have reduced such issues.

The assassination also prompted practical changes in Japan, including increased police protection for dignitaries and new legislation to restrict malicious donation solicitations by religious organizations. Thousands of people signed petitions requesting leniency for Yamagami, and many sent care packages to his relatives and the detention center where he was held.

“The case brought attention to the problems faced by children of religious adherents,” Fujimoto noted, “but the seriousness of the damage is still not fully understood.”