The man who assassinated former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe using a homemade firearm has been sentenced to life imprisonment, public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday, bringing to a close a years-long trial that stunned the nation.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, shot Abe at close range in July 2022 while the former leader was delivering a campaign speech on a street in Nara. The attack shocked Japan, a country known for its strict gun laws and extremely low levels of gun violence.
Yamagami was arrested at the scene and later charged with murder and firearms offences. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Nara District Court for the sentencing, with limited seats allocated by lottery.
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, stepped down in 2020 due to health reasons but remained a powerful political figure. During his two terms in office, from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020, he reshaped Japan’s security policy, strengthened ties with the United States, and played a key role in regional diplomacy.
The assassination also triggered intense scrutiny of the Unification Church, officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. Yamagami said he targeted Abe because he believed the former leader had ties to the church, which he blamed for financially ruining his family through excessive donations made by his mother.
A subsequent government investigation found that the church had violated regulations by pressuring followers to donate large sums of money. A court ordered the group’s dissolution last year, though the church is appealing the decision.
The killing plunged Japan’s political landscape into turmoil, further weakening Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party amid scandals and public distrust. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, calling the assassination an unprecedented crime in post-war Japan, while defence lawyers argued for leniency due to Yamagami’s personal circumstances.
