Short answers, pulled from the story.
Tetsuya Yamagami was born on the 10th of September 1980 in Mie Prefecture to affluent parents who ran a local construction business. His family moved to Higashiosaka, but their financial stability crumbled after his mother joined the Unification Church in August 1991.
Tetsuya Yamagami targeted Shinzo Abe because he believed the Unification Church caused his family's financial ruin and the deaths of his father and brother. He held deep resentment toward his mother for donating over 100 million yen to the organization and neglecting her children while attending church events.
Tetsuya Yamagami built the weapon using materials purchased starting in spring 2021 and learned how to make guns from YouTube videos. The gun fired by battery ignited gunpowder with an electric current, and he dried the powder in a rented apartment between March and September 2021 before storing it in aluminum-covered trays.
On the 21st of January 2026, Tetsuya Yamagami was sentenced to life imprisonment after admitting to killing Shinzo Abe during the first hearing. His lawyer requested that any punishment be automatically reduced because his handmade gun did not fall under the criteria of the Firearms and Swords Control Act.
Since Tetsuya Yamagami's apprehension, he has been sympathized with and hailed as an icon domestically and abroad. Online petition website Change.org received over 8,700 signatures as of the 8th of October 2022 which pleaded for reducing Tetsuya Yamagami's sentence while some Chinese people wore T-shirts printed with his photograph.