Life imprisonment for man who killed Japan’s ex-PM Shinzo Abe

The man who Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was killed He was sentenced to life imprisonment, three and a half years after he was shot and killed during a rally in the city of Nara in 2022.

Tetsuya Yamagami had He pleaded guilty to murder charges At the opening of the trial last year, But how he was punished has divided public opinion in Japan. While many view the 45-year-old as a cold-blooded killer, some sympathize with his troubled upbringing.

Prosecutors said Yamagami deserved life in prison for his “dangerous act.” Abe’s assassination came as a shock to the country, where there is almost no gun crime.

Asking for leniency, Yamagami’s defense team said he was the victim of “religious violations.”

The court heard that his mother’s devotion to the Unification Church bankrupted the family, and Yamagami held a grudge against Abe after becoming aware of the former leader’s ties to the controversial church.

On Wednesday, Judge Shinichi Tanaka of the Nara District Court sentenced Yamagami to life imprisonment without parole, as requested by the prosecution.

“Waiting for an opportunity, finding an opportunity, and targeting the victim with a gun is extremely despicable and malicious,” the judge said, according to NHK.

Yamagami sat quietly with his hands clasped and his eyes closed as the verdict was passed. Nearly 700 people lined up in the cold to try to get one of 31 seats inside the courtroom for the hearing.

Abby’s shocking death thrust into broad daylight Investigations into the Unification Church and its questionable practices, including soliciting destructive financial donations from its followers.

The case also revealed links with politicians from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and led to the resignation of a number of ministers.

Journalist Ito Suzuki, who covered all but one of Yamagami’s court sessions, said Yamagami and his family appeared “sinking in despair” throughout the trial.

Yamagami “exuded a sense of boredom and resignation,” recounts Suzuki, who began researching the Unification Church long before Abe’s shocking murder.

“Everything is true,” Yamagami said solemnly on the first day of his trial in October 2025. “There is no doubt that I did this.”

Armed with a homemade pistol assembled using two metal pipes and duct tape, he fired two bullets at Abe during a political election campaign in the western city of Nara on July 8, 2022.

The killing of Japan’s most famous public figure at the time – Abe remains the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history – sent shockwaves around the world.

Yamagami’s lawyers asked for a prison term of no more than 20 years, and said he was a victim of “religious violations.” The court heard he was upset with the church because his mother had donated his late father’s life insurance and other assets worth up to 100 million yen ($633,000; £471,000).

Yamagami spoke out about his grievances against Abe, who was 67 when he was shot, after seeing his video message at a church-related event in 2021, but said he initially planned to attack church executives, not Abe.

Suzuki remembers the look of disbelief given to Aki, Abe’s widow, when Yamagami said the former leader was not his main target. Her expression “is still clearly etched in my mind,” Suzuki says.

“She conveyed a feeling of shock, as if to wonder: Was my husband merely a tool used to settle a grudge against the religious organization? Is that all there is?”

In an emotional statement read to the court, Akie Abe said the grief of losing her husband “will never subside.”

“I just wanted him to stay alive,” she said.

The Unification Church, founded in South Korea, entered Japan in the 1960s and strengthened its ties with politicians to grow its following, researchers say.

Although Abe was not a member, like many other Japanese politicians, he occasionally appeared at church-related events. His grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, also a former prime minister, was said to be close to the group because of its anti-communist stance.

In March last year, a court was held in Tokyo He abolished the status of the church As a religious corporation, it was ruled that it forced its followers to buy expensive goods by exploiting concerns about their spiritual safety.

The church also sparked controversy by holding mass wedding ceremonies in which thousands of couples participated.

Suzuki recalls that Yamagami’s sister, who appeared as a defense witness during his trial, gave tearful testimony about the “dire circumstances she and her siblings suffered” because of their mother’s deep involvement in the church.

“It was a very emotional moment. Almost everyone in the public gallery seemed to be crying,” he says.

But prosecutors say there is a “leap in logic” about why Yamagami directed his dissatisfaction with the church at Abe. During the trial, the judges also raised questions indicating that they found it difficult to understand this aspect of his defence.

Observers are also divided on whether Yamagami’s personal tragedies justify a reduced sentence for his actions.

“It is difficult to dismantle the prosecution’s case that Abe did not directly harm Yamagami or his family,” Suzuki says.

But he believes Yamagami’s case shows how “victims of social problems are driven to commit serious crimes.”

“This chain has to be broken, and we have to properly examine why the crime was committed,” Suzuki says.

Rin Uchiyama, a sociologist at Queen’s University Belfast, says sympathy for Yamagami is largely rooted in “widespread distrust and antipathy in Japan toward controversial religions such as the Unification Church.”

Yamagami was definitely a “victim” of parental neglect and the resulting economic hardship [Unification Church]But this does not explain, let alone justify [actions]“Uchiyama says.