Tetsuya Yamagami, Shinzo Abe’s alleged assassin, blamed Unification Church for mother’s bankruptcy
Tetsuya Yamagami, the 41-year-old man charged with the assassination of Japan's former and longest-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last Friday, allegedly targeted the late politician because he thought he was connected to the Unification Church, which he blamed for his mother going bankrupt.
A relative of Yamagami, identified as a man in his 70s, told The Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s four largest newspapers, that the alleged assassin “has gone through hard times ever since he was a child over a religious group that his mother joined.”
The relative told The Asahi Shimbun that when Yamagami was young, he lived with his parents, an older brother and a younger sister. His father, who ran a construction company, died during his childhood and his mother took over the business.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
As his mother tried to make her way as a widowed businesswoman, the relative said she became religious and donated large sums of money to a religious group that was not named.
“She was a widow, and I suppose she felt insecure about the family’s future,” the relative told the publication. As time went by, the relative said he started receiving calls from Yamagami and his siblings who told him: “We don’t have anything to eat at home.”
The relative recalled giving money to the children and sometimes delivering food. He said Yamagami eventually joined the Maritime Self-Defense Force in 2002, the same year his mother was declared bankrupt. The family construction company was dissolved in 2009.
Yamagami reportedly told investigators after his arrest that: “I couldn’t forgive (the group) because my mother continued to pay money to it even after she underwent bankruptcy.”
In a statement released Monday, the Unification Church – which teaches unorthodox beliefs like regarding the book founder Sun Myung Moon wrote, The Divine Principle, as being more authoritative than the Bible and regarding Moon and his second wife as the messiah and "True Parents" – confirmed that Yamagami’s mother is a member who “participates occasionally in church activities.”
“Our own internal investigation can confirm that his mother is a member of FFWPU and Mr. Yamagami's reported allegation that his mother's donations to FFWPU caused family problems is a matter to be investigated by the police,” the statement said. “Whatever his grievances, we wholeheartedly condemn violence and murder.”
The Unification Church is a religious movement founded in Pusan, South Korea, by Moon in 1954, according to Brittanica.com. Moon died in 2012. Its followers are derided as “Moonies.”
According to Yamagami’s relative: “I bet he has held a grudge the whole time. I think he feels that his life was changed by (the group).”
After he was arrested, Yamagami reportedly said: “I tried to target the head of the religious group, but it was difficult. I thought Abe had a connection to the group.”
Data cited by The New York Times says groups connected to the church have attracted top Japanese lawmakers to their events. In its statement, the Unification Church painted the extent of Abe’s connection to the church as not especially deep.
“Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent brief remarks to two different online 'Rally of Hope' events in the past year, which spoke on themes of peace in Asia. The events were hosted by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and other organizations, including FFWPU,” the group said. “While UPF and FFWPU share the same founders, UPF is an independent NGO in general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.”
FFWPU also clarified that while Yamagami is not a member, “he test-fired his homemade weapon the night before the assassination at a building that was formerly used as a FFWPU church. Fortunately, no one was hurt.”
Unification Church officials further appealed to the media to “maintain their professional commitment to accuracy, impartiality, and objectivity” as the investigation into Abe’s assassination continues.
“Other than preliminary questions about the association of Mr. Yamagami with FFWPU, the police have not yet contacted us about this criminal investigation. Local representatives of FFWPU will fully cooperate with any inquiries from authorities and make relevant information available to the press as appropriate,” officials said. “FFWPU will redouble its efforts to foster a world of lasting peace. Once again, we are deeply saddened by the loss of one of the world's great statesmen. May God's grace and blessings be with the late prime minister, his family, the Japanese people, and those grieving around the world.”
