Shooter of ex-Japan PM Abe to appeal life sentence

From Kyodo

February 3 2026

NARA – The man who fatally shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022 will appeal his life sentence handed down last month by a district court in western Japan, people close to the matter said Tuesday.

The ruling on Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, by the Nara District Court on Jan. 21 rejected the defense counsel’s argument that his unfavorable upbringing caused by his family’s financial ruin influenced him to attack Abe during a stump speech in Nara Prefecture.

Yamagami will file an appeal on Wednesday at the Osaka High Court following recommendations by his defense team that he proceed, the sources said.

According to the defense, Yamagami was driven by a desire for revenge against the Unification Church after his mother’s large donations to the organization, which totaled 100 million yen ($641,000), plunged the family into financial ruin.

He said during the trial, which employed a lay judge system, that he believed Abe was “at the center of the Unification Church’s political involvement” in Japan.

Yamagami’s defense had sought a prison term of no more than 20 years, arguing that he was “a victim of abuse involving religion.”

They said he should be given a chance to contribute to society by drawing on his experience of having suffered harm at the hands of a religious group.

But the court, while acknowledging that Yamagami’s upbringing involved significant hardship, said that the resolve to commit murder and carry it out constituted a major leap in the decision-making process, and that Abe was not at fault.

“The maliciousness and the high risk of firing multiple bullets in front of a large crowd with the intent to kill are significantly more serious than in other cases,” the court had added.