Was Shinzo Abe's assassin motivated by religious 'cult' that backs right-wing politicians?
Bob Brigham
July 09, 2022

Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead.

With media in Japan refusing to report key details about what motivated alleged assassin Tetsuya Yamagami to shoot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the people of Japan are taking to social media to fill in the gaps.

Jeffrey Hall, special lecturer in Japanese studies at Japan’s Kanda University of International Studies, noted the growing online speculation that the group in question is the Unification Church, officially now known on the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification that was founded by Sun Myung Moon, whose members are known colloquially as "Moonies."

“Japanese society is generally suspicious towards newer religious groups, the word ‘cult’ will be used quite often,” Hall told The Globe and Mail newspaper. “This kind of reporting, which may be motivated by a desire to prevent discrimination or by a desire to prevent an unfair impact on the election, could ultimately lead to a backlash against whatever group this person is affiliated with and possibly others that are just similar."

In his 2021 address, Trump mentioned the right-wing Washington Times newspaper.

On Saturday, media in Japan reported for the first time that the suspect said, "I targeted Abe because he's friendly with the Unification Church."