He blamed the church for destroying his family through coercive financial donations and emotional manipulation, and he targeted Abe as a prominent political figure he viewed as a key enabler of the church's influence in Japan due to longstanding ties with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Yamagami has described his act not as political assassination but as a desperate response to personal ruin, telling investigators, "I had no choice but to choose Mr. Abe as a murder target."
Yamagami was born in 1980 in Nara Prefecture into a relatively affluent family; his father was a construction company executive, and his mother, Ako, came from wealth.
His maternal grandmother died in a car accident when he was 1, shattering his mother's mental health. At age 4, his father died by suicide, leaving Ako to raise Yamagami and his two siblings alone. Around the same time, his older brother (one year his senior) was diagnosed with childhood brain cancer, losing sight in one eye after grueling treatments.
His maternal grandmother died in a car accident when he was 1, shattering his mother's mental health. At age 4, his father died by suicide, leaving Ako to raise Yamagami and his two siblings alone. Around the same time, his older brother (one year his senior) was diagnosed with childhood brain cancer, losing sight in one eye after grueling treatments.
Devotion's Cost: Donations and Downfall
Vulnerable and grieving, Ako joined the Unification Church around 1991 after a recruiter offered a "prayer healer" to exorcise "ancestral evil spirits"—a common tactic targeting bereaved families.
She believed the church's teachings, which blend Christian elements with Korean nationalism and claims of resolving spiritual debts from Japan's colonial history, "saved" her.
Ako became deeply devoted, attending events in South Korea, volunteering extensively, and donating over 100 million yen (approximately $660,000–$700,000) from her late husband's life insurance, family assets, and inheritance.
The home became chaotic with empty fridges and piled dishes, forcing the kids to beg neighbors for food. Yamagami, then a teenager, learned of the donations around age 14, later writing on Twitter (now X) in 2020 that this was when "my family fell apart."
Family tensions escalated; his grandfather once attacked Ako with a knife in frustration, and his older brother clashed violently with her over the church.
Yamagami tried to mediate, studying church doctrine to empathize with his mother but never converting.
In 2015, his brother died by suicide amid ongoing poverty and illness, an event that deepened Yamagami's rage; he broke down at the funeral, partly blaming his mother.
Yamagami's grievances focused on the church's exploitative practices, which he said coerced his mother into ruinous donations via guilt over "ancestral purgatory" and overpriced spiritual items.
This left him and his siblings in poverty, forcing him to abandon university dreams despite attending a top high school. He joined Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force in 2002 to escape but attempted suicide in 2005, attempting to secure life insurance for his siblings.
A Life of Isolation and Online Outcries
Years of menial jobs, isolation, and despair followed—no marriage, no children, and a sense of a "distorted" life, as he posted on Twitter from 2019–2021 to a tiny audience.
He vowed never to forgive the church or its "Japanese allies," viewing it as the root of his father's and brother's suicides, family fractures, and lifelong hardship.
Initially, Yamagami tried supporting his mother but grew suffocated by her prioritization of the church, mixing resentment with lingering love and unfulfilled hope for her "awakening."
Post-2015, his anger became "uncontainable," evolving into a plan for revenge: He built homemade guns and even fired at a local church building days before the assassination to signal his intent.
Pivot to a Political Target
He viewed Abe as the most influential "sympathizer" in a corrupt LDP-church alliance dating to Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who protected the group in the 1960s for anti-communist organizing and campaign volunteers.
To Yamagami, Abe symbolized a "blood-soaked lineage" shielding the church's abuses, allowing it to extract billions from Japanese families like his to fund overseas operations.
Yamagami pleaded guilty on October 28, 2025, at Nara District Court, expressing remorse but reiterating his church-driven motive; prosecutors seek the death penalty, with a verdict expected January 21, 2026.
The trial has exposed "religious abuse" and LDP ties, with his mother testifying as a defense witness—she remains a member but has apologized in prison letters, feeling parental responsibility.
This comes amid broader fallout: A March 2025 court ordered the church's dissolution (under appeal), and surveys show over 70% of Japanese view it negatively.
A Symbolic Tribute to Abe
The symbolic gift, displayed in a glass case, was part of a suite of golf-themed presents, including a gold leaf-decorated golf ball and tee set, and a bag autographed by Japanese pro golfer Hideki Matsuyama.
Abe, who served as Japan's prime minister for nearly eight years until his 2022 assassination, frequently golfed with Trump during his presidency, forging a personal bond that Takaichi referenced to rekindle alliances amid global uncertainties.
Takaichi, who assumed office last month, aims to build on Abe's "Abenomics" policies and security initiatives while navigating Trump's tariff threats and demands for defense spending increases.
The exchange highlighted golf's role in diplomacy, with world leaders increasingly turning to the sport to woo the golf-enthusiast president.
Source: Death Penalty News, Staff, Agencies, October 31, 2025
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
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