Tetsuya Yamagami was found guilty and jailed for life for the 2022 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an act prosecutors called unprecedented in post-war Japan.
The daylight killing forced Japan to confront rare gun violence and triggered scrutiny of alleged ties between conservative politicians and the Unification Church.
Yamagami admitted to murder at trial, which drew intense public attention, with crowds queuing to attend the courtroom proceedings.
A Japanese court has sentenced Tetsuya Yamagami to life imprisonment for the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, more than three years after the killing shocked the nation and the world.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, describing the assassination as “unprecedented in our post-war history” and warning of its “extremely serious consequences” for Japanese society, according to local media. The verdict was delivered on Wednesday, January 21, 2026.
Why Was Shinzo Abe Killed?
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead in July 2022 while delivering a campaign speech in the city of Nara. The killing, carried out in broad daylight, forced a national reckoning in a country known for its strict gun laws and low levels of gun violence.
It also sparked intense scrutiny of alleged links between senior conservative politicians and the Unification Church, a religious group against which Yamagami held a long-standing grievance.
Who Killed Shinzo Abe?
Yamagami, 45, was charged with murder and violations of firearms control laws after using a handmade gun to carry out the attack. When the trial opened in October, he admitted to killing Abe but disputed some of the additional charges, according to media reports.
Public interest in the case remained high until the end, with long queues forming outside the courthouse on Wednesday morning as people waited for tickets to attend the sentencing hearing.
The assassination had a profound impact on Japan’s political landscape and public consciousness, prompting renewed debates over security for public officials and the influence of religious organisations in politics.
