Yamagami admits to killing former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe

NARA, JAPAN:  In a courtroom heavy with emotion and history, the man accused of assassinating former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calmly admitted to the killing — a stark moment in a case that has haunted Japan since 2022.

“It is true that I did it,” said Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, speaking softly yet clearly in his first court appearance since the fatal shooting that shocked one of the world’s safest nations. Dressed simply in a black sweatshirt and grey trousers, his long hair tied neatly back, Yamagami appeared composed — even detached — as he confessed before the Nara District Court.

Yamagami was arrested immediately after the attack in July 2022, moments after allegedly firing a homemade gun at Abe during an election campaign speech in Nara. The dreadful episode, caught on camera, echoed all over Japan.

His defence lawyer urged the court for leniency, arguing that the improvised weapon did not meet the legal definition of a firearm under Japan’s strict Firearms and Swords Control Act.

The start of the trial carried a strange sense of timing and symbolism. As proceedings began in Nara, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was in Tokyo meeting US President Donald Trump, a close ally of Abe and a key figure in his political legacy.

“He was a great friend of mine and a great friend of yours,” Trump said, recalling the bond he shared with Abe over golf games and policy talks — a friendship that once helped define the US–Japan partnership.

For many in Japan, Yamagami’s motive remains as compelling as it is tragic. Investigators say he resented Abe for his perceived ties to the Unification Church, a religious organisation his mother had donated nearly 100 million yen (about US$660,000 or S$855,000) to — a loss that reportedly left the family in financial ruin.

The Unification Church, founded in South Korea in 1954 and known for its mass wedding ceremonies, has long faced criticism in Japan. After the assassination, revelations that more than 100 lawmakers from Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had connections to the group set off a public reckoning — one that deeply eroded trust in the government.

Seventeen more hearings are scheduled before a verdict is expected on Jan 21, with the nation watching closely as the trial reopens one of the darkest and most painful chapters in modern Japanese history.