A man accused of killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial. Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, told a court in the capital Tokyo that “everything is true”, according to local media.

Yamagami used a homemade gun to shoot Abe during a political campaign event in the western city of Nara in 2022. Abe – who was known for his hawkish foreign policy and a signature economic strategy that popularly came to be known as “Abenomics” – was struck several times, and died in hospital later the same day, sending shockwaves around the world, reports the BBC.

The assassination shone a spotlight on links between Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Unification Church, more popularly known as the “Moonies”.

Yamagami is reported to have told investigators he targeted Abe because he blamed the 67-year-old for allegedly promoting the church, which he said had bankrupted his mother and the wider family. He alleged his mother made donations, said to total about 100 million yen ($660,000), as proof of her faith to the church.