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Akie Abe

Akie Abe

Widow of Shinzo Abe

Appears in 1 story

Stories

Japan sentences Abe's assassin to life, closing a trial that reshaped church-state relations

Rule Changes

Attended trial as victim participant

Tetsuya Yamagami shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign rally in July 2022, using a homemade gun he built after his mother's donations to the Unification Church—totaling $720,000—destroyed his family. On January 21, 2026, a Nara court sentenced him to life in prison, rejecting defense arguments that his traumatic upbringing warranted leniency.

Updated Jan 24