The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© 2022 AFPShinzo Abe murder suspect: What we know
TOKYO©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© 2022 AFP
45 Comments
Login to comment
divinda
So just to be clear, then "what we know" and "what they know" are not the same.
Mr Kipling
Why the secrecy? Is this a democracy we live in or a police state?
Speculation on the net ( I know..) says that it was the owners of The Washington Times and United Press International. The Unification Church or "Moonies".
mtuffizi
why we took the word from killer? can he be trusted? deep investigation is needed,
The Avenger
I believe it's in order to avoid a religious or racist backlash against the group and its members.
Alfie Noakes
The Japanese media outlet Gendai Business has broken the official silence and revealed that the "religious group" was the Unification Church, as everybody knew. This will lead to a tsunami of stories revealing the long and deep connections between the LDP, the Abe/Kishi families and the Unification Church.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/6b0e33d621afef8e8a889b570426786d22ed69d3
No confirmation of whether Yamagami is a member of Sanctuary, the pro-Trump splinter group of the Unification Church which gained notoriety after joining the January 2020 attack on the US Capital Building.
Yubaru
Whether it was the unification church or not, there are a number of "religious" organizations that people follow here that are evil under the wraps of doing something good.
My father-in-law, before he was hospitalized and passed away, was lured into one similar, by a cousin of his. He "paid" for a special altar to be built in the house, paid to have something like sutra's read to him, paid to have a "special" glass that when filled with ordinary water, would "heal" him if he drank it. etc etc etc
This group has a HUGE "church" here in Okinawa, and hundreds it not thousands are followers.
They even tried to get him to sign over all of his estate, and they promised to take care of everything with the funeral too after he passed. They played on his weakened state and fortunate my wife and I with the assistance of a local Buddhist monk, who was a very close friend to my father-in-law and us, got him away from this group.
When I took the altar back to their training center, the people were incredulous that I would return it to them, and they literally came running after me to try to get me to take it back. I told them that I would burn it on their parking lot if they did. Got in my car and drove away. (This is just a short version of a long story, and like I said, there are others out here in Japan like this, not just the moonies!)
obladi
Well, the Unification Church was pretty much a cult, but I thought it had fragmented after the founder died, and was no longer a very big deal. I know they ran a huge fish distribution business that supplied most of the sushi shops in the US, but I didn't know about their entanglement with the Abe family.
Alan Harrison
If this man has served in the MSDF then that is a bigger disgrace. In any Navy or Army, one is expected to show restraint and self control. He has shown neither. Japans SDF personnel cannot be trusted beyond the confines of Japan.
Alfie Noakes
It's still a big deal. Trump sent a video message to their conference last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhEn2WVMn74
As did Abe:
https://twitter.com/WaratteDappiCX/status/1502829406275874819
Pim
Don't know who you are Alfie Noakes but it is very useful to have someone fill the blanks of the Japanese press reporting.
Designer 02
Pim, I always look forward to reading Alfie Noakes's comments they are always well informed, balanced and have depth.
Happy Day
So, Abe had a "connection" to an organization that his guy held a grudge against? That's the worst excuse for an assassination I've ever heard.
HBJ
There are no excuses, but it goes some way to explaining motive.
Dango bong
unemployed, what a shocker!
TokyoLiving
Take him to the gallows ASAP !!!..
John Coffey
Has the Japanese government conducted any research into the correlation between unemployed individuals and acts of violence?
I also wonder if the reason so many Japanese men are unemployed could be because of the low wages?
No matter how you look at this, it’s tragic!
Alfie Noakes
I've long had an interest in the relationships between these shadowy religious groups and the LDP. Unlike the yakuza they receive little coverage in the mainstream media yet are always lurking in the background, where their tax-free status and little official oversight makes them ideal partners for murky dealings by unscrupulous politicians. Aum Shinrikyo, the Unification Church, the various Shinto organizations and especially Mahikari (an obscure cult founded by a war criminal and a Kuomintang officer who participated in the Rape of Nanjing, also patronized by Shinzo Abe and Shintaro Ishihara) all have or had deep connections to the political world and influence on it.
If you're interested in what's happening now I'd suggest following this twitter account:
https://twitter.com/mrjeffu
Meiyouwenti
Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who also served as PM, helped the Unification Chirch set up its first chapter in Japan, which was located inside the compound of his residence. The family and the church have a long history.
Alfie Noakes
Obviously he was in the Imperial Japanese Army, not the Kuomintang.
Antiquesaving
Why was the fact he once served in the JMSDF made so prominent in every article?
By the sound of it I originally thought he was in for many years ( ex: he is 41 entered at 20 did his 20 years etc.. left).
But all it is he did the minimum 3 years and got out 17 years ago, he could have been a cook for all we know those 3 years.
It is a little strange to make such a big deal about 3 years and make that very short stint in the JMSDF the lead in every article.
Is there some underlying motive for focusing on that one aspect?
Interesting how the press is willing to say JMSDF and not just " a part of the self defense force" being ambiguous as to the exact force,
but goes all weak-kneed when the "religious group" is concerned and not willing to identify despite most news organizations knowing which one it is.
rcch
What we know is that political and religious groups, cults, whatever you wanna call it, are the reason why the world is such a mess. “ Stupid “ ideologies, lies, brainwashing, even hatred and violence. It brings people closer to the edge and in many cases it gives them that last little push towards desperation and misery once they realize they were never really free.
quercetum
Is this reliable? This was given out just a few hours after the shooting, even before Abe was officially propounded dead.
garypen
Are there any "good" excuses for a political assassination? (Other than an active dictator type situation.)
Mark
At this point we know just as much as we knew Friday Afternoon, which is very very little. What religious group? and if that is a fact then it is something I am sure the authorities are looking into.
SAD and HEARTBREAKING to Mr. Abe go down they way he did, he deserves much better. A person of so much service to his country does NOT deserve this end this way . RIP, HERO.
Septim Dynasty
The Unification Church is way worse than Nippon Kaigi and other Japanese right-wing groups out there.
kurisupisu
Both Abe and the Unification Church were very much anti communist.
Yamagami’s motive for murder has something to do with this connection?
Where is the truth?
Sister Jane
Maybe it was a Japanese organization that actually has connections to Abe's opposing party, so if true, the killer had no idea what Abe stood for or against, most people that perform these kinds of acts anywhere in the world are sick and their beliefs are usually wrong. Some say Abe was with the NWO, some say a Nationalist, whatever he truly was, the killer had no idea. The organization was probably Soka Gakkai which has a relationship with the Komeito which is another political party in Japan, Abe was in the LDP party not Komeito, if true, the killer was just another wrong, sick Murderer, even if not true he was one sick, wrong, murderer.
Now, Abe and many world leaders gave a speech at the Unification Church once, but there is no proof of any connection with the Church as the Church is Korean and Abe has always been a Nationalist, heck the guy visited Yasakuni Shrine on occasion, the Koreans hate that, so personally that point sounds like BS. Everytime an event like this happens Conspiracies pile up, making it difficult to find the real truth. However, the killers mom probably was ripped off by the Unification Church as they've ripped off many folks over the years, so the Main Stream Narrative goes.
Anonymous
Former PM Abe was shot and killed with a homemade gun in a country with very strict gun ownership laws.
Brace for a repetition elsewhere. I mean that large country east across the Pacific. Gun laws won’t help. More security may help, but someone who wants to kill will kill.
Rudolph Andrew Furtado
Having visited the Japanese ports of Nagoya, Yokohama and Tokyo besides another smaller Japanese port during my employment in the "Merchant Navy" should say have adopted a little bit of Japanese culture in my lifestyle.Shocked that a Country where discipline and courtesy is a part of living would be witness to such a dastardly assassination. Without knowing a single word of Japanese i travelled around Nagoya,Yokohama and Tokyo like a local thanks to guidiance and courtesy of the locals.R.I.P Prime Minister Abe.
Patrick Kimura-Macke
The assasin only became "unemployed" in May this year. Before that he was apparently employed and a good worker. I think he quit his job because it was part of his careful plan. The connection between Mr Abe and the Moonies doesn't seem to be a false fact. No reason to be murdered, but the assassin believed it was. Maybe more true details will come out. Meanwhile please remember that Mr Abe's mother is still living. It is painful to outlive your children.
Zamar86
u_s__reamer
Minority "religious" groups professing to be "above politics" are not as harmless or innocent as they seem as is evident from the textbook case of the Kishi-Abe & Friends axis which has enjoyed a long history of pocketing donations from anti-communist, right-wing religious cults. The shocking end for Abe came after years of his "living dangerously".
William Bjornson
It's may not be a question of WHAT he believed but WHO made him believe it. Skilled manipulators can do almost anything with the right personalities...
William Bjornson
"Are there any "good" excuses for a political assassination? (Other than an active dictator type situation.)"
Sadly, garypen, it's not the 'dictators' who are usually assassinated...
Legrande
Here is an article which has researched the connection between the Unification Church and Abe's grandfather, father, and other LDP bigwigs -
https://tragedyofthesixmarys.com/moon-bought-protection-japan/
DocCarlos
First of all Japan is not a Democracy as it is like the British Parlamentary system.
Democracy is 1 person 1 vote also the will of the people to put together a referendum with signed signatures of voters to place on the ballot and for the people not the politicians to choose laws they want not what politicians want. The will of the people is what democracy is about.
Now on the gunman and how he got a homemade firearm. Go to you tube and you can find anything to make as a weapon bougt with materials you can purchase in hardware stores. I fear that censorship and blocking you tube or other internet sites. Censorship will be a fascist commie move that would take away the rights of the many and end of democracy and even parlimentary govts.
With the let downs from all goverments suppopsed;y democratic as in the USA now that is taking rights of its citizens is undemocratic. Do we want free and open countries run by the people for the people by the people, not for the corporations by the corporations and not of the peoples wills and desired.
We must all be vigilent and aware of what a democracy is about.
Pukey2
What is it with cults and Japan?
Mr Kipling
Pukey2....
Good question.
I think the "go to good high school, then good university followed by entering a good company will result in a happy life" dream goes bad, those who didn't go to good schools or didn't enter good companies have failed. Worse is those who did achieve these goals but are not happy. Perfect for recruitment..... "Our cult has true happiness..."
quercetum
My mother contributed to this religious group and was scammed. Abe has ties to this unification church and so now I’m going to kill Abe?
Yubaru
Give me a bit of time please.
Kobe White Bar Owner
@ MeiyouwentiToday 09:28 am JST
Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who also served as PM, helped the Unification Chirch set up its first chapter in Japan, which was located inside the compound of his residence. The family and the church have a long history.
very interesting, where can I get this confirmed any ideas pls?
roninroshi
This was 99% preventable. There was no security parameter, no security personnel walking and watching the area, security personnel focused on the front of the venue basically ignoring the rear of the event and as security must do after the first shot that missed grab the ‘principal’ (the person your guarding) and take them to the ground while other security neutralize the threat! None of which was done. The commander of this fiasco should be fired ASAP!
AndyPanda
Good people do good things. Bad people do bad thing. When good people want to do bad things, they need religion.