Shinzo Abe Shooting Defendant Yamagami Says Mother’s Religion Harmed Family

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:58 JST, November 21, 2025

NARA — The man charged with fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022 stated in his first questioning at his trial that he had caused trouble.

The questioning of defendant Tetsuya Yamagami began on Thursday at the 10th hearing in the trial of the 45-year-old man charged with murder and other crimes in the case of the shooting of Abe while giving a speech in Nara. The hearing was held at the Nara District Court.

Yamagami said he had caused major trouble due to the crime and also touched upon his emotional state regarding his mother and younger sister.

It was the first time he had spoken about his thoughts on the incident in public.

At about 3:45 p.m., Yamagami, attired in a black sweatshirt and beige trousers, was prompted by presiding Judge Shinichi Tanaka to approach the witness stand. He slowly moved to the stand, bowed to the judge, and then sat down.

His defense lawyer began by asking him, “Did you expect to live to the age of 45?” to which he replied, “I don’t think I should still be alive.”

When asked for the reason, he was silent for a few seconds before saying, “Because I have caused a great deal of trouble.”

The defense attorney said they would address his feelings for the victim’s family later and turned to questions regarding his life history.

Yamagami pleaded guilty to murdering Abe at the first public hearing of his trial on Oct. 28.

A key focus of the trial is establishing how his family’s ruin, caused by his mother’s donations totaling ¥100 million to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church, should affect the sentencing.

Yamagami responded to his defense attorney’s questions in a calm tone, occasionally pausing and choosing his words carefully.

He explained that he found out about his mother’s religious beliefs in his second year of junior high school. Family troubles subsequently began upon the discovery of the donations.

His maternal grandfather, who lived with them, told Yamagami about his mother, who refused to leave the church despite his pleas: “If things continue like this, she’ll take all the assets with her [to the Unification Church].”

Yamagami testified that his grandfather would lock his mother out of the house or brandish a kitchen knife in front of the family, threatening to kill her before killing himself.

He recalled feeling that his outlook on life had undergone a fundamental change. When asked why he did not consult his teachers about his family situation during high school, he replied, “I thought it was not the teacher’s business.”

At his mother’s insistence, he traveled to South Korea, where certain facilities of the church are located, for about two weeks after graduating from high school, he said. “Her insistence was so strong that I could not turn it down.”

Regarding his own involvement with the church, he stated, “Since I knew what my mother was doing, I did not want to join.”

After joining the Maritime Self-Defense Force in his early 20s, he continued to financially support his mother. He described this as extremely frustrating, saying that he “felt the church was indirectly utilizing me.”

Yamagami said of his mother, “I essentially don’t think she is a bad person at heart, but there were many things that were hard to understand when it came to [her involvement in] the church.”

“If only there hadn’t been such a large amount of donations, I think it would have been fine [that she joined the church],” he said.

His mother testified as a witness on Tuesday, stating, “I am the perpetrator.” Following the examination, she spoke to the defendant, using his nickname: “Tetchan, I’m sorry.”

Yamagami said during his questioning: “I put her in an extremely painful position [due to the crime]. I think my mother feels responsible because I committed this offense with her religious beliefs as the motivation.”

When asked about his four-year-younger sister, who had also been affected by the family’s financial ruin caused by their mother’s donations, he expressed concern that she must have been hurt the most by the situation. At the defendant’s questioning scheduled to be held on Tuesday next week and on Dec. 2-4, he is expected to elaborate on the circumstances leading up to the shooting and his motives.