Shinzo Abe, who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020, became a victim of an attack on July 8, 2022. He was shot by Yamagami during a speech to supporters in the city of Nara in western Japan. The assassin used a homemade shotgun and acted out of a sense of revenge, believing that the former prime minister had ties to the "Unification Church," which had caused serious harm to his family—his mother had donated $670,000 to the organization. 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 the religious group and also cited his "tragic childhood" as a factor influencing his decision to commit murder. Nevertheless, during the trial, Yamagami admitted his guilt.
