Assassination of Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan and a serving member of the House of Representatives, was assassinated on 8 July 2022 while speaking at a political event outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara City, Nara Prefecture, Japan. While delivering a campaign speech for a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidate, he was shot from behind at close range by a man with an improvised firearm. Abe was transported by a medical helicopter to Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara, where he was pronounced dead. Leaders from many nations expressed shock and dismay at Abe's assassination, which was the first of a former Japanese prime minister since Saitō Makoto and Takahashi Korekiyo during the February 26 incident in 1936. Prime Minister Kishida decided to hold a state funeral for Abe on 27 September. The suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami (山上 徹也), was arrested at the scene for attempted murder; the charge was later upgraded to murder after Abe was pronounced dead. Yamagami told investigators that he had shot Abe in relation to a grudge he held against the Unification Church (UC), to which Abe and his family had political ties, over his mother's bankruptcy in 2002. The assassination brought scrutiny from Japanese society and media against the UC's alleged practice of pressuring believers into making exorbitant donations. Japanese dignitaries and legislators have been forced to disclose their relationship with the UC to the public. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled the cabinet earlier on 10 August 2022, but one of the few retaining ministers, Daishiro Yamagiwa, resigned on 24 October 2022 as the approval of the cabinet continued to plummet over the UC scandal. The assassination triggered an announcement on 31 August 2022 that the LDP would no longer have any relationship with the UC and its associated organisations, and would expel its members if they did not break ties with the UC. In addition, on 10 December, the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors passed two bills to restrict the activities of religious organisations such as the UC and provide relief to victims.