Assassination of Shinzō Abe

Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station, several hours after the shooting

On 8 July 2022, Shinzō Abe, a former prime minister of Japan and serving member of the Japanese House of Representatives, was assassinated while speaking at a political event outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara City, Nara Prefecture. Abe was delivering a campaign speech for a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidate when he was fatally shot by 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami with an improvised firearm. Abe was transported via medical helicopter to Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara, where he was pronounced dead.

Quotes

• If you think about it carefully, what the assassin of Abe, Tetsuya Yamagami, did is strange. If the president of the Unification Church had been shot, I could understand it, even if I would in no way condone it. But Mr. Abe was shot and they criticized the Unification Church so much. My current impression is that the way the media reported it was quite strange.
  • Reverend Shindo Mizuta, chief priest of Kongo-ji Temple (a Rinzai sect temple of the Myoshinji school, in Nishimamon, Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture), as quoted in "Unification Church’s Dissolution in Japan: A Leading Buddhist Monk Speaks Out", Bitter Winter (March 24, 2025)
  • Compiler's Note: The Unification Church is now known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Assassination of Shinzō Abe on Wikipedia