Thursday, January 22, 2026 -The man who fatally shot former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has been found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, with the judge condemning the daylight assassination as “despicable and extremely malicious”. The verdict, delivered Wednesday at the Nara District Court, comes more than three years after the killing shocked a nation largely unaccustomed to gun violence and prompted scrutiny of the Unification Church’s ties to prominent conservative politicians.
Judge Shinichi Tanaka said 45-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami had
been “determined” to kill Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, describing how
he “shot him from behind and did so when (Abe) was least expecting it”, which
pointed to the “despicable and extremely malicious” character of the act.
Yamagami used a handmade firearm to shoot Abe during a campaign speech in July
2022.
Public interest in the trial remained intense, with people
queueing on Wednesday morning for courtroom tickets. Yamagami appeared subdued
and showed little emotion as he was sentenced for murder and firearms
violations. His defence team, which acknowledged his guilt when proceedings
opened in October, said it had not yet decided whether to appeal, a step that
must be taken within two weeks under Japanese law.
Prosecutors argued that Yamagami’s motive was driven by a
desire to tarnish the Unification Church. The trial examined how his mother’s
extensive donations to the church, totalling around 100 million yen, bankrupted
the family and shaped his conviction that “influential politicians” were
helping the sect flourish. Abe had spoken at events hosted by groups linked to
the church.
Judge Tanaka said “it is undeniable that the defendant’s
upbringing influenced the formation of his personality and his mindset… and
that it even played a distant role” in the assassination. But he added that
“each criminal action he took was based on nothing but his own decision-making,
the process of which deserves strong condemnation”.
Members of the public who observed the verdict echoed the
judge’s reasoning. Katsuya Nakatani, 60, said that “even if there was room for
extenuating circumstances… opening fire with so many people around is, after
all, something that cannot be forgiven”. Another man outside the court held a
banner urging the judge to take Yamagami’s difficult life into account.
During opening arguments, prosecutors told the court that
Yamagami “thought if he killed someone as influential as former prime minister
Abe, he could draw public attention to the Church and fuel public criticism of
it”. Yamagami’s lawyers countered by describing an upbringing marred by
“religious abuse”, citing his mother’s extreme devotion, the family’s financial
collapse, the suicide of his father, his aborted higher education and his
brother’s later suicide. His despair culminated in a suicide attempt in 2005.
Revelations after the assassination exposed longstanding
connections between the Unification Church, founded in South Korea in 1954 and
whose followers are often called “Moonies”, and Japan’s ruling Liberal
Democratic Party, prompting resignations from four ministers.
Prosecutors said Yamagami began constructing a firearm in
2020, test-firing it in remote areas, underscoring the “premeditated” nature of
the attack. The killing also served as a reckoning for Japan, where strict gun
control laws make shootings exceedingly rare. Police later acknowledged
security lapses, noting that some officials did not recognise the first gunshot
and reacted too slowly.
Calling the killing “unprecedented in our post-war history,”
prosecutors sought life imprisonment, citing its “extremely serious
consequences” for society. Under Japan’s system, a life sentence technically
allows for parole, though experts say most inmates
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