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Tag - shinzo-abe-assassination

 
 

SHINZO ABE ASSASSINATION

The Japan branch of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2026
Tokyo High Court orders Unification Church to dissolve
The high court on Wednesday upheld a lower court¡¯s decision last year that stripped the group of its status as a religious organization.
Police officers stand by as people wait for a campaign speech by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ahead of the House of Representatives election, at Rekisen Park in Tokyo on Saturday. Police discovered 336 problematic posts through internet monitoring conducted as part of their efforts to prevent attacks by lone offenders.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2026
336 online posts hinting attacks found during Lower House race
Police discovered the posts through internet monitoring conducted as part of their efforts to prevent attacks by lone offenders.
A protester rallies in Nara on Jan. 21 against the life sentence handed down to Tetsuya Yamagami for fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2026
Assassin of Shinzo Abe files appeal against life sentence
Tetsuya Yamagami reportedly agreed to appeal after strong persuasion from his lawyers.
Outside the Nara District Court in the city of Nara ahead of the sentencing of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man behind the July 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2026
Shinzo Abe¡¯s assassin gets life sentence
The sentence meted out to Tetsuya Yamagami, who shot the former prime minister in Nara in July 2022, brings an end to the trial for a murder that shocked Japan.
News reporters gather in front of the Nara District Court on Oct. 28, when the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, opened.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 20, 2026
Shinzo Abe¡¯s assassin faces verdict
One of the key points in the trial is how the judges will weigh on Tetsuya Yamagami¡¯s troubled upbringing and motivations for fatally shooting the former prime minister.
The Unification Church¡¯s headquarters in Seoul
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2026
Unification Church reportedly backed 290 LDP lawmakers in 2021 poll
The figure compares with the Liberal Democratic Party¡¯s announcement in 2022 that 180 of its lawmakers had ties with the group.
Tetsuya Yamagami in Nara in July 2022. Earlier that month Yamagami had shot the former prime minister with an improvised shotgun at point-blank range.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Dec 23, 2025
The making of Shinzo Abe¡¯s assassin
Tetsuya Yamagami¡¯s path to the assassination had many turning points, but his alarm over the Unification Church¡¯s ties with the prime minister, and financial woes, drove him on.
The Nara District Court in November. Prosecutors in the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with the fatal shooting of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have focused on the cruel and premeditated nature of the killing.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2025
Prosecutors demand life sentence for suspect in Shinzo Abe shooting
Tetsuya Yamagami, who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, is standing trial for murder and other charges at Nara District Court.
Tomihiro Tanaka, Japan head of the Unification Church, resigns from his post during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2025
Head of Unification Church¡¯s Japan branch resigns
Tomohiro Tanaka explained his resignation as a ¡°moral¡± decision, citing people who have complained about damage from the organization.
The Nara District Court where Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, is on trial for the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe's wife, Akie, attended the trial on Wednesday for the first time.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 4, 2025
Man accused of shooting Abe apologizes to former PM¡¯s widow and family
Describing his actions as inexcusable, Tetsuya Yamagami said they caused pain to the former prime minister¡¯s family even though he held no grudge against them.
A court sketch shows Tetsuya Yamagami standing in trial in his first questioning session at the Nara District Court on Nov. 20.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 26, 2025
Abe shooter says ¡®despair and sense of crisis¡¯ triggered 2022 attack
Tetsuya Yamagami explained how he came to view the politician as a friend of the Unification Church and the urgency he felt to stop their interactions.
An illustration of Tetsuya Yamagami (left) being questioned by his lawyer on Thursday at the Nara District Court
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 21, 2025
¡®I should not have lived this long,¡¯ man accused of killing Abe tells court
Describing his troubled upbringing and the misery caused by his mother¡¯s devotion to the Unification Church, Tetsuya Yamagami expressed regret.
The mother of the man on trial for the 2022 killing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Nara District Court that she feels responsible for her son¡¯s actions.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 19, 2025
Even after Abe¡¯s death, suspect¡¯s mother stays faithful to Unification Church
The church¡¯s influence on Tetsuya Yamagami¡¯s family has become a focal point of his trial, as a grudge he said he held against it had led him to target the prime minister.
"I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart for the terrible crime committed by my second son, Tetsuya," the mother of Tetsuya Yamagami, who is charged with the 2022 murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said at the start of her testimony Thursday at the seventh hearing of his lay-judge trial at Nara District Court.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2025
Mother of Abe shooter Yamagami apologizes in court
¡°I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart for the terrible crime committed by my second son, Tetsuya,¡± said the mother, a follower of the Unification Church.
A police witness told Nara District Court on Thursday that all seven guns made by Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with murdering former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, were lethal.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 7, 2025
Police witness says Abe shooter¡¯s homemade guns were all lethal
The witness is a researcher at the Nara prefectural police department¡¯s forensic laboratory who analyzed the homemade guns.
Journalists gather at the Nara District Court as a vehicle believed to be carrying Tetsuya Yamagami arrives on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 30, 2025
Lawmaker Kei Sato testifies at Abe shooter trial
Sato, who witnessed the shooting, expressed his resentment and grief over the fatal attack.
Members of the media gather outside the Nara District Court in the city of Nara on Tuesday hours before the start of the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 28, 2025
Abe shooting suspect Yamagami pleads guilty to murder
On the first day of his trial, Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, admitted to the 2022 killing of the former prime minister.
The Nara District Court has scheduled 19 days for the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami before it hands down a ruling on Jan. 21 next year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 27, 2025
Three years later, trial begins for man accused of ex-PM Abe¡¯s assassination
The delay was due to pretrial proceedings and a lengthy psychiatric evaluation for Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, to determine his fitness to stand trial.
Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, leaves a police station in the city of Nara in July 2022.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 22, 2025
Mother of Abe¡¯s alleged killer to testify in court
The trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, who is accused of killing the former prime minister with a homemade gun, is set to begin Tuesday.
The Nara District Court will deliver its verdict on the case against Tetsuya Yamagami, the man charged with the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on Jan. 21, 2026.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2025
Nara court likely to deliver verdict on Abe shooter in January 2026
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, is charged with the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022.

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