In the first court hearing this Tuesday, Tetsuya Yamagami, 45 years old, confesses to having shot Shinzo Abe
Tetsuya Yamagami, a 45-year-old man accused of the former Japanese Prime Minister, confessed to the crime this Tuesday (28.Oct.2025), during the first judicial hearing in the case. Abe was the longest-serving prime minister in Japan, from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020.
Yamagami was arrested at the scene of the bombing on July 8, 2022, after allegedly shooting Abe with a homemade gun. The former prime minister was speaking during an election campaign event in the city of Nara, in western Japan. The information comes from the agency.
“It’s true I did it”Yamagami, a former member of the Japanese Navy, who appeared calm, wearing a black hoodie and gray pants, with his long hair tied up, told the court, according to the public broadcaster NHK.
A lawyer for Yamagami later asked for the sentence to be reduced, claiming that the homemade weapon he used did not fall into the category of firearms defined by Japan’s Firearms and Swords Control Law, the law added. NHK.
Yamagami blamed Abe for promoting , a religious movement he harbored resentment against after his mother donated about $660,000 to the group, according to local media reports.
According to the Reutersthe Unification Church was founded in South Korea in 1954. It is famous for its mass marriages and considers Japanese followers an important source of income. More than a hundred congressmen from Abe’s party had ties to the church, which diminished public support for the ruling party.
The high-profile trial began on the same day as a confrontation between the current Prime Minister (Liberal Democratic Party, right) and the President of the United States (Republican Party).
“He was a great friend of mine and a great friend of yours”Trump said as he shook hands with . Abe was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his victory in the 2016 election, and the two strengthened ties over several golf matches in the US and Japan.
A further 17 hearings are planned until the end of 2025, before the verdict is handed down on January 21, 2026.
