Shinichi Tanaka

Stories

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

Delivered life sentence

Tetsuya Yamagami shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign rally in July 2022 with a homemade gun. He built it 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 May 22

Notable Quotes

"The act of waiting for an opportunity, finding an opening, and targeting the victim with a gun is despicable and extremely malicious."

from Japan sentences Abe's assassin to life, closing a trial that reshaped church-state relations · Updated May 22

"It is undeniable that the defendant's upbringing influenced the formation of his personality... But each criminal action he took was based on nothing but his own decision-making, the process of which deserves strong condemnation."

from Japan sentences Abe's assassin to life, closing a trial that reshaped church-state relations · Updated May 22