Japan court hands life sentence to man who killed ex-PM Shinzo Abe

The man who killed former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in a rare act of gun violence has been sentenced to life imprisonment, bringing to a close a years-long trial that profoundly shook Japan’s political and social landscape.

Public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday that the Nara District Court handed down the sentence to Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, who admitted to assassinating Abe during an election campaign event in 2022.

Prosecutors in Yamagami’s trial had sought a life sentence, calling the assassination an “extremely grave incident that is unprecedented in post-war history,” Reuters reported. His lawyers argued for a more lenient sentence, pointing to the harm caused to his family by the Unification Church.

Yamagami was arrested at the scene after using a crude, homemade firearm—an act that stunned a country with some of the world’s strictest gun control laws and exceptionally low rates of gun crime.

The court convicted Yamagami on charges of murder and firearms offences, endorsing prosecutors’ demand for life imprisonment. His defence team had sought a sentence of no more than 20 years, citing the hardships he faced growing up in a household connected to a controversial religious organisation.

According to his testimony, his aim was to damage the organisation and expose its perceived links with Abe, rather than to target the politician for policy reasons. Yamagami added that he had initially planned to attack the church’s leader but abandoned the idea due to the difficulty of gaining access.

The case also prompted legislative changes aimed at curbing coercive donation practices by religious and other groups, following revelations about the financial and emotional toll on families of adherents.

The killing also brought scrutiny to the link between the LDP and the Unification Church. Yamagami blames the sect for bankrupting his family through excessive donations from his mother, a member. He had claimed he targeted Abe because he believed the former leader was associated with the church, which originated in South Korea.

A subsequent government investigation found that the group had violated Japanese regulations by allegedly pressuring followers to make exorbitant donations – prompting a court to order the church to dissolve last March. The sect is appealing that decision.

The Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, rose to prominence in the late 1950s and became a global organization by the 1980s.

It continues to make international headlines for its mass weddings, where thousands of couples tie the knot at the same time.

The LDP has borne much of the public backlash after an investigation found that more than half its lawmakers had ties to the church. Several high-ranking officials, including the former defense minister, said they had received help in past elections from church members.

Then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida purged those officials and pledged to cut his party’s ties to the group – but the damage was done, sowing deep public suspicion toward the LDP. Voters delivered a clear rebuke at the ballot box, handing parliamentary seats to opposition parties and stripping the LDP of its majority.

During his tenure, Abe reshaped Japan’s security posture, pushing through major legislation in 2015 that expanded the country’s military role and its ability to support the United States. Internationally, he cultivated close ties with Washington while seeking to stabilise relations with Beijing, even as he worked to counter Chinese influence by strengthening alliances across the Pacific.

Since his death, Japan’s political scene has been marked by turbulence. Abe’s party has faced a series of crises, including a slush fund scandal, rising inflation and internal divisions over a broader rightward shift in politics.

The current prime minister, Abe’s protégé Sanae Takaichi, has called snap elections next month in an effort to capitalise on her growing popularity and restore confidence in the ruling party.