The assassin's preferred target could not visit Japan due to Covid restrictions
It appears that the decisive factor in the recent assassination of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the Covid lockdown, which has been particularly severe in Japan, at least with regard to external visitors.
Tetsuya Yamagami (41), the man accused of shooting Abe, has confessed that he originally intended to kill Hak Ja Han Moon, the female co-founder of the Unification Church, better known as the Moonies, but switched targets after Moon’s visits to Japan were curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic. Yamagami was incensed against the Church after his mother was persuaded to donate the family fortune, around 100 million yen (€715,000), to the Church, after she joined following the death of her husband from suicide.
The impoverishment of the family lead Yamagami, who was reportedly very smart, to blame the Church for his inability to go to university and his diminished prospects in life, which saw him working in a number of lower-paid jobs. The Unification Church, meanwhile, has been pushing back on Yamagami's claims.
As reported by The Irish Times:
Unable to exact revenge on whom he really blamed, due to travel restrictions into Japan, Yamagami was forced to transfer his animosity to Abe, who had minor links with the religious group. Last year Abe, along with Donald Turmp, gave back-to-back recorded speeches to a meeting of the Universal Peace Federation, an affiliate of the Church, praising the group’s work promoting peace and "family values."
That last term, in particular, must have rankled with Yamagami.
The church has tried to distance itself from claims that it bankrupted the Yamagami family. Tomihiro Tanaka, the head of its Japanese branch, confirmed that Mrs Yamagami was a member, but denied extorting money from her. The Moonies have since insisted they returned much of the cash. A group of lawyers fighting the church for the return of hundreds of millions of dollars in donations says both of those claims are false.
Either way, a picture emerges of a man who grew angry at his reduced station in life. Relatives have recalled phone calls from a young Tetsuya Yamagami and his two hungry siblings, demanding food. Instead of going to university, he joined the Maritime Self-Defence Force (Japan’s navy) in 2002, the year his mother declared bankruptcy. Thereafter, he slid down the social ladder and was unemployed and living in a one-room flat when he was arrested for Abe’s murder. Friends recall him being depressed and crying bitterly at his brother’s funeral.
Unable to exact revenge on whom he really blamed, due to travel restrictions into Japan, Yamagami was forced to transfer his animosity to Abe, who had minor links with the religious group. Last year Abe, along with Donald Turmp, gave back-to-back recorded speeches to a meeting of the Universal Peace Federation, an affiliate of the Church, praising the group’s work promoting peace and "family values."
That last term, in particular, must have rankled with Yamagami.
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