Shinzo Abe, who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and then from 2012 to 2020, became a victim of an attack on July 8, 2022, while speaking to supporters in Nara. Yamagami shot him twice with a homemade shotgun, believing that Abe was connected to the "Unification Church," which, according to him, had destroyed his family due to a $670,000 donation from his mother.
The prosecution characterized this crime as "unprecedented" in Japan's post-war history. The defense argued that Yamagami had become a victim of violence from a religious organization and that his "tragic childhood" was the reason for his actions; however, at the court hearing, he admitted his guilt.
