Abe Shooter Yamagami Pleads Guilty to Murder

Nara, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)–Tetsuya Yamagami, who is charged with murdering former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the western Japan city of Nara about three years ago, pleaded guilty at the first hearing of his trial at Nara District Court on Tuesday. The 45-year-old defendant said that the charges against him were “all true.” Meanwhile, the defense contested the charge of firing a weapon in violation of the firearms and swords control law, arguing that the homemade gun he used in the attack was not covered by the law. The trial, presided over by Judge Shinichi Tanaka, is expected to focus on the severity of Yamagami’s punishment. The court is expected to hand down a ruling on Jan. 21, 2026. In its opening statement, the prosecution said that Yamagami had a grudge against the controversial Unification Church religious group, to which his mother had made large donations. He initially planned to target the group’s leader and made 10 homemade guns, but gave up on the plan due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons. The defendant later learned that Abe had sent a video message to an organization affiliated with the group. Believing that Abe had ties with the Unification Church, Yamagami thought that targeting the very famous former prime minister would attract public attention to the group and fuel criticism of it, prosecutors argued. “It was a crime that could have caused harm to the crowd” watching Abe, the prosecution side continued. “It had unprecedented, extremely serious consequences and social repercussions.” Meanwhile, the defense said that Yamagami initially decided to attack a senior Unification Church official after his older brother committed suicide but gave up. He chose to shoot Abe because he believed that powerful politicians’ friendly stance toward the religious group enabled its activities, it said. There were constant family disputes over his mother joining the group, and the environment in which the defendant was raised “constitutes religious abuse,” the defense argued, adding that this should be fully taken into account when determining the sentence. The trial is scheduled to run for 19 days, including a reserve session, with witness questioning set to begin Wednesday. The defendant is slated to take the stand in five hearings from Nov. 20, and the trial will conclude on Dec. 18. Before Tuesday’s court hearing began in the early afternoon, more than 700 people lined up outside the court to watch the high-profile trial. Yamagami entered the courtroom at around 2 p.m., wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt and dark gray pants. He had stubble, and his grown-out, partially grayed hair was tied back. He was expressionless as the indictment was read aloud by the prosecution. He admitted to the charges in a quiet voice. According to the indictment, Yamagami fired a homemade gun twice at Abe, who was delivering a stump speech on July 8, 2022, ahead of a House of Councillors election. The former prime minister died of blood loss caused by damage to his right and left subclavian arteries. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]