Overview
- Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, admitted in court that he shot the former prime minister during a 2022 campaign event using a homemade firearm.
- Prosecutors charged him with premeditated murder and arms-law violations and said he experimented with making a gun from 2020 to target a high-profile figure.
- They argued he sought to draw public attention to the Unification Church, which he blamed for his family's ruin following his mother's large donations.
- Defense lawyers outlined a troubled upbringing marked by family suicides and what they called religious abuse, while signaling they will contest some counts.
- The case continues as Japan reckons with the church's political ties, a court-ordered dissolution of its Japan branch, security lapses at the rally, and tighter 2024 rules on sharing weapon-making information.