At the September rally, held ten months before the assassination, Abe stated to Kajikuri that, "The image of the Great Father [Moon] crossing his arms and smiling gave me goosebumps.

[54] Abe was initially scheduled to deliver a speech in Nagano Prefecture on 8 July 2022 in support of Sanshirō Matsuyama [ja], an LDP candidate in upcoming elections to the House of Councillors.

[81] Shortly thereafter, he was transported to a local hospital by emergency helicopter with a wound to the right side of his neck and internal bleeding in his left chest, arriving approximately fifty minutes after being shot.

[120] NHK General TV, and four of Japan's five major commercial television networks, cancelled or postponed all scheduled programming to broadcast live news coverage for the rest of the day, as did several radio stations.

[131] The NPA also announced that they will extend their "cyber patrol" force which was originally established to monitor online illegal drug trade and child pornography to also swiftly identify potential threats against VIPs found on social media and take early counter measures.

[134][137] Tanaka also downplayed the alleged close tie between the organisation and Abe, stating that the former prime minister, not being a registered member or advisor, only delivered speeches for their "friendly entity", the UPF.

About three thousand followers, comprising a considerable portion of Japanese women married to Korean men via the UC's mass weddings, were transported from their facility in Gapyeong County via coaches to participate in this protest.

[147][148] On 21 August, the UC released a statement on its Japanese site which condemned the media's scrutiny towards the organisation's political ties as a witch hunt, demanding apologies to their followers and threatening legal action.

[149] On 27 October 2022, the lawyers representing the UC announced that they filed a civil case for defamation against TBS Radio, Nippon TV and the guests who commentated on their shows, Masaki Kito and Yoshifu Arita, demanding public apologies and a total of 33 million yen in damage.

Han reinforced that "Japan is a country of war criminals and must make compensation to Korea" and ordered that Japanese politicians, including Kishida, "receive education" for persecuting their organization.

[12][163] Almost a year before the assassination, in September 2021, the anti-cult lawyers group Zenkoku Benren sent an open protest letter to Shinzo Abe, after he had sent the video message to an online meeting of the Universal Peace Federation.

[171] The assassination raised discussion of stripping the UC of its "legal entity of religious organization" status based on Article 81 "Dissolution Order" of the Religious Juridical Person Law [ja] which was only issued twice in Japan prior to Abe's assassination, the first being the Aum Shinrikyo in 1996 following the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack; the second being Myōkakuji (明覚寺) in Wakayama in January 2002 whose top officials had been convicted for employing fraudulent spiritual sales tactics to attract massive donations from their believers.

[176] Since Abe's assassination, a woman under the pseudonym "Sayuri Ogawa" (小川 さゆり) as one of the former UC followers, who suffered financially and mentally, has become outspoken about her past experiences of how she was exploited by the church and her own parents.

[177] On 6 October 2022, she and her husband held a press conference to explain their view on the church and why they feel exploited, which was interrupted by a message sent by her parents via the UC, who accused her of lying pathologically due to her mental illness.

[184] Following the outcome of the probe, on 12 October 2023, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology announced it would apply to the Tokyo District Court for an order to revoke the Unification Church's religious corporation status.

He worried that under the new laws it would still be difficult to prove that the claimant's free will was being suppressed when accepting the transaction, also the definition of what allows the victim's child or spouse to demand restitution on behalf of their relative was too narrow to be practical.

[199] In March 2024, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan announced their decision to include Abe's assassination in the "Societal History and Citizens" textbook for middle school starting in 2025.

[213] Kishida insisted pushing forward the state funeral on the grounds of Abe being the longest serving prime minister of Japan, as well as his achievements on domestic affairs and foreign policies.

[223][224] Nippon TV cited an anonymous government official who explained that many leaders who attended Elizabeth II's funeral were unsure if it was appropriate to conduct two consecutive trips abroad in such a short period of time.

[272] An injunction requesting a suspension to the Cabinet's decision and budget for the event had been filed at the district courts in Tokyo, Saitama, Yokohama and Osaka by civil groups on 21 July, which stated the lack of parliamentary approval and infringement of a constitutional right to freedom of belief.

Koji Nakakita, a professor of political science at Hitotsubashi University, commented on the reason for the increase in public opinion against the state funeral, saying, "The biggest problem is the issue of the former Unification Church.

[292] Video capturing the surrounding area of the assassination from the sky by the television station was widely shared online by conspiracy theorists as a proof of Abe's death by sniper rifle, instead of Yamagami's homemade gun, from the roof of the nearby shopping mall Sanwa City Saidaiji.

[308] The Hyogo prefectural police investigated a death threat and resignation demand for Akashi Mayor Fusaho Izumi,[309] who previously served as an aide to the assassinated lawmaker Kōki Ishii.

[310] Hours after the shooting, online assassination threats were made in Singapore and Taiwan against their respective leaders, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and President Tsai Ing-wen.

[315][316] Noting that Abe was shot while delivering a campaign speech, Kishida also denounced the assassination as an attack on Japan's democracy and vowed to defend a "free and fair election at all costs".

[340][341] While formal mourning was not proclaimed in Thailand, the government did fly flags at half-mast on 8 July, and its prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha paid a visit to the Japanese embassy in Bangkok to pay respects in person.

[352][independent source needed] Releasing a joint statement, the leaders of the Quad nations of Australia, India, and the United States noted that the organisation would redouble its work towards "a peaceful and prosperous region" in honour of Abe.

The White House noted that Abe played a formative role in the founding of the Quad partnership and worked tirelessly to advance a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

[359] Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, described Abe in a condolence message as "an outstanding statesman" with "excellent personal and professional qualities", who did "a lot for the development of good neighborly Russian–Japanese relations".

This stemmed from grievances concerning historical colonialism and war crimes by Imperial Japan, and towards nationalist Japanese politicians – including Abe – who denied or questioned some accounts of the atrocities.