TOKYO: The widow of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said she still does not understand why her husband was killed.
Akie Abe, 64, recently spoke to The Yomiuri Shimbun ahead of the fourth anniversary since her husband, then 67, was fatally shot during a stump speech in Nara in July 2022.
In December last year, Akie appeared at the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, who was charged with Abe’s murder and other offenses, and heard his explanation firsthand.
“Even now, I still don’t understand why my husband was killed,” Akie said. “I want to meet the defendant and ask him.”
Attending a hearing
There were 16 hearings in the lay judge trial of Yamagami at the Nara District Court between October 2025 and January. Akie attended the 13th hearing under the victim participation system on Dec. 3 out of a desire to “confirm details with my own eyes and ears.”
She reflected on her first encounter with Yamagami, saying, “His hair had grown longer and he looked haggard compared to footage from the time of the incident that I had seen many times.
“Even during cross-examination, I didn’t sense any intention on his part to refute the prosecution’s arguments.”
The trial revealed details of Yamagami’s difficult upbringing, including the collapse of his family due to his mother’s donations totaling ¥100 million to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church.
“One’s upbringing must not be used as an excuse for crime,” Akie said. “I absolutely do not want to see a trend where people think it’s acceptable to commit murder just because their family environment was bad.”
However, she added, “Things might have turned out differently if there had been people around him who could have listened to his troubles when he felt backed into a corner.”
As the wife of a politician, she said she felt that supporting the socially vulnerable was an important issue.
‘I don’t expect an apology’
Yamagami said in court that he targeted Abe for being “at the center of the ties between the cult and politics.” Akie remains unconvinced.
“He wasn’t a cult executive — why was it my husband? Why did he kill my husband, who had nothing to do with it? It just does not add up.”
Many, particularly on social media, had called for the death penalty, but Akie said that since before the trial began, she did not want him to be sentenced to death because “I want him to face his crimes and reflect on them in prison.”
“Though he won’t be able to atone for his sins …” she added with a sigh.
She has never received a letter of apology from the defendant. He never apologized to her directly in court either.
“I no longer expect an apology. It would not bring my husband back, anyway. But once the trial is over, I want to visit him in prison and ask why he targeted my husband,” she said.
Sharing experience
Regarding her husband, Akie said, “As his wife, of course I wanted him to live, but he served as prime minister for a long time and was even given a state funeral — he had a happy life.”
Over the past four years, she said she has often been asked to talk about Abe or make a visit in his stead. “I’ve been quite busy,” she said with a smile.
Even before the incident, Akie had been carrying out efforts related to rehabilitation. She currently gives lectures at prisons and elsewhere as a member of a victim’s family. She exchanges letters with inmates who have committed murder and also gets to know the families of the perpetrators and comes to understand their suffering as well.
When speaking about her own experiences, she keeps in mind not to harbor “feelings of resentment,” as it leads to a cycle of violence.
“Everyone has a role and a destiny in life,” she said, adding that she believes there are things she can convey precisely because of her circumstances. “My husband was murdered, but I’m not going to go out and kill the perpetrator. I will continue to share that real-life experience.”
Background of the incident
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot around 11:30 a.m. on July 8, 2022, in front of Kintetsu Railway Co.’s Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara, while giving a campaign speech in support of a candidate in that year’s House of Councillors election. Tatsuya Yamagami was arrested at the scene and indicted in January 2023 on charges including murder.
During the lay judge trial that began in October 2025 at the Nara District Court, Yamagami admitted to the charges and was sentenced to life imprisonment in January according to the prosecution’s recommendation. His defense counsel has filed an appeal with the Osaka High Court, and a trial date has not yet been set. - The Yomiuri Shimbun
