Abe Assassin Sentenced to Life Prison in Japan

On January 21, 2026, a Tokyo court sentenced 45‑year‑old Tetsuya Yamagami to life imprisonment for killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during Abe’s July 8, 2022 campaign speech at a train station in Nara. Yamagami pled guilty in a trial that began in October 2025 and had prosecutors seek a life term while his lawyers argued for a maximum of 20 years. The case highlighted close ties between Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Unification Church, leading to a court order stripping the church’s Japanese branch of tax‑exempt status and dissolving its entity. The ruling also spurred stricter security for politicians and new limits on religious‑funds solicitations.