A Japanese court has sentenced Tetsuya Yamagami, the man who assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to life imprisonment, more than three years after the shocking killing that stunned Japan and the world.
The judgment was delivered on Wednesday by the Nara District Court, bringing to a close one of the most consequential criminal trials in Japan’s recent history.
Background
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead on July 8, 2022, while delivering a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.
Yamagami, now 45, was arrested shortly after the attack and pleaded guilty when his trial opened in October 2025.
Armed with a homemade gun fashioned from metal pipes and duct tape, he fired two shots at Abe in broad daylight an act that shattered Japan’s long-standing reputation as one of the safest countries in the world, with extremely low levels of gun crime.
Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment, describing the assassination as a “grave act” that struck at the heart of Japan’s democracy.
The court agreed, ruling that the seriousness of the crime warranted the maximum custodial sentence short of the death penalty.
The case has deeply divided public opinion. While many in Japan view Yamagami as a cold-blooded murderer, others have expressed sympathy for his background and personal struggles.
During the trial, Yamagami’s defence team argued for leniency, portraying him as a victim of what they described as “religious abuse.”
They said his mother’s devotion to the Unification Church a controversial religious organisation had financially ruined the family, leaving Yamagami resentful and traumatised.
According to court testimony, Yamagami’s mother donated large sums of money to the church, including proceeds from his late father’s life insurance, amounting to about 100 million yen.
Yamagami told the court he developed a grudge against Abe after seeing the former leader appear in a video message at a church-related event in 2021, believing Abe had supported the organisation.
He said his original intention had been to target senior figures within the church, not Abe himself a claim that visibly distressed the former prime minister’s widow, Akie Abe, who attended the proceedings.
In a statement read to the court, Akie Abe said the pain of losing her husband would never fade.
“I just wanted him to stay alive,” she said, describing a grief that remains unresolved.
Nearly 700 people reportedly lined up outside the courthouse to observe the sentencing, underscoring the case’s national significance.
Abe’s killing triggered sweeping scrutiny of the Unification Church in Japan, exposing its fundraising practices and long-standing ties to politicians, particularly within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The revelations led to multiple cabinet resignations and, in March last year, a Tokyo court revoked the church’s legal status as a religious corporation, citing coercive practices.
Despite the defence’s arguments, prosecutors maintained that Abe had not directly harmed Yamagami or his family and that there was no justification for directing resentment at the former leader.
Judges also questioned the logic behind the defence’s claims during the trial.
Legal analysts and social commentators remain divided.
Some see the case as highlighting the dangers of extremist grievances and personal trauma, while others argue it underscores the need to address broader social issues, including the influence of controversial religious groups.
For the court, however, the central issue was clear: the deliberate killing of a former national leader in public view.
With Wednesday’s ruling, Yamagami will spend the rest of his life in prison for an act that changed Japan’s political and social landscape