“He initially prepared to kill a church leader, but gave up after deciding it was too difficult.”
Yamagami blamed the Unification Church for bankrupting his family through his mother’s donations. Abe’s grandfather Kishi built the church’s ties to the LDP, and LDP politicians used its members as free campaign labor for decades. Japan’s major media spent days refusing to name the group. Protecting the ruling party’s friends came before reporting the motive.