Shinzo Abe Shot

[The Larch]

The murderer has confessed. Apparently he blamed Abe for supporting a church that he blamed for his family's economic ruin.

Edit: turns out the church could be the Moonies.

[Josquius]

Well... That had to be pretty low ranked on the list of theories.

[Valmy]

Ah the Moonies. What a bunch of nutters. Was Abe really connected with them in some way?

[The Larch]

Ah the Moonies. What a bunch of nutters. Was Abe really connected with them in some way?

Apparently his maternal grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, who was Japan's PM in the late 50s (and prior to that a class A war criminal because of his role in the exploitation of Manchuria during WWII  ) did help the Moonies set up shop in Japan, as they were seen as useful anti-communist allies. Since then the Moonies and the LDP (Abe's party) have had some kind of alliance.

Abe himself participated in some of the Moonies's events, together with other important politicians (like Trump).

[Valmy]

Yeah the Moonies are big gun nuts and Trump supporters in the US. Granted that in itself doesn't exactly distinguish them among US religious groups.

Huh. Well I'll be damned.

Well see Zoupa? There will be at least a few Korean mourners.

[The Larch]

Some info about Abe and the Moonies, this time written by a proper journalist.

Shinzo Abe shooting: who are the 'Moonies' and why are they in the spotlight?
Suspect Tetsuya Yamagami blames the Unification church, also known as the Moonies, for bankrupting his family

The apparent motive given by the man accused of assassinating Shinzo Abe has cast a spotlight on the Unification church and its ties to politicians.

Tetsuya Yamagami has confessed to killing the former Japanese prime minister during a campaign speech on Friday. He blamed the global religious movement – whose members are often referred to as Moonies – for bankrupting his family, and believed that Abe had championed its activities in Japan.

The Japan branch of the church has confirmed that Yamagami's mother is a member, but declined to comment on the suspect's claims that she had made a "huge donation" more than 20 years ago that left the family struggling financially.

The branch's president, Tomihiro Tanaka, told a press conference that Yamagami's mother became a follower in the late 1990s, adding that the family had suffered financial ruin around 2002.

The organisation's official name is the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, although it is better known as the Unification church. It was founded in South Korea in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon, whose strident anti-communism would lead him to build ties with conservative politicians around the world, including in Japan.
(...)
Its connection to Japan is inseparable from the instability of the postwar years, when conservative politicians sought to build alliances that they believed would prevent the country from embracing communism.

They included Abe's grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who reportedly set up an organisation with ties to the church. It was Kishi's decision to court Moon and his followers in Japan that reportedly drove Yamagami to target his grandson.

Yamagami reportedly told investigators that he had fired a shot from a homemade gun at a Unification church facility near his home the day before he targeted Abe. The Asahi Shimbun quoted residents as saying they had heard a loud bang in the early hours of 7 July.

The Japan chapter was founded in 1959 – the penultimate year of Kishi's three-year term as prime minister – as the church sent missionaries to Japan and the US to forge links with influential politicians and business leaders.

Last September Abe delivered a congratulatory address via video link at an event organised by an affiliate, the Universal Peace Federation. Donald Trump is among other conservative politicians who have publicly associated themselves with the church.

Abe had been criticised for speaking at events organised by church affiliates. Last year lawyers representing people who say they lost money because of the church filed a letter of protest after he delivered the video message. They also protested when Abe sent a telegram to a mass wedding in 2006.

Moon, who moved to the US in the early 1970s, had longstanding ties to Japan, having studied engineering at a high school in Tokyo. He was indicted on tax evasion charges in the US in 1981 and served 11 months in prison.

In 2008, Moon passed control of the church to his youngest son, Hyung Jin Moon, who later formed a breakaway organisation, the Sanctuary church, after falling out with his mother, Hak Ja Han. She now controls the Unification church.

The police have not publicly identified the group Yamagami blamed for his family's financial troubles, and most Japanese media organisations refrained from naming it until Monday's press conference.

[The Brain]

If only there was a lesson here about not giving away all your money.

[Josquius]

Apparently last letter from the killer to a journalist has been released.

XX, long time no see.

How long has it been since I left a comment on the blog under the name of 'not yet enough'?

I wrote, 'I need a gun so much', but since that day, I've spent all my energy and money trying to get a gun.

It's like a member of the Unification Church who gave up his life for a fake savior.

The directions are opposite, but these days, I think I am very similar to them.

The relationship between me and the Unification Church goes back about 30 years.

Since my mother joined the Unification Church, my mother has been wasting more than a million dollars, and the family's prosperity and bankruptcy...

In the process, my teenage years passed. It is no exaggeration to say that the experiences I have experienced have endlessly distorted my life.

Adolescence is a time when individuals are making their own character and life.

For me it is...

A lie that parents can spit out because they don't care about their children and their families.

Confident evil deeds with no way to stop it.

So the never-ending conflict, the destruction that lies ahead.

He(former head of the Unification Church) considers all the money and women in the world to be his natural possessions.

A self-proclaimed god who does not choose any means and methods to make it a reality.

Such a human being, and a group that worships such a person as a god in reality, the society in which it exists...

I wrote them as 'the shame of mankind', but I still have that thought.

I don't like Abe, but he's not a real enemy.

In any case, he is just one of the most influential supporters and adherents of the Unification Church in the real world.

I want to kill all of the Moon clan (the head of the Unification Church), but I know it's impossible for me.

The division of the Unification Church organization is not something that happens all at once.

Hak Ja Han (current head of the Unification Church), If it was difficult, I was going to at least kill one of the Moon's blood relatives.

but, When Hak Ja Han and her daughter die, the 3rd and 7th sons are happy, Or the Unification Church will be reunited. Neither one serves my purpose.

The political implications and consequences of Abe's death...

I can't afford to think about it anymore.

Original-
https://twitter.com/soulflowerunion/status/1548629547176042496

Yeah, account of a minor rock band, weird. So take it with a pinch of salt for now- but this is just the link I was given, not its first showing I believe.

Also on twitter the killer's account was discovered and analysed before being banned.
Some notable stuff-
https://twitter.com/watergate213617/status/1548639686918213637


Seems he really was a fellow-traveller of Abe politically. Far right anti-Korean,anti-Chinese, anti-left wing, nationalist nutcase. Then at some point he saw a twitter post with Abe supporting the moonies and snapped.

So. Twitter to blame?

[The Brain]

Once again it's just a nutjob. Just like the UNA bomber and many others he has nothing to say. Just insane ravings.

[Jacob]

Abe's connection to the Moon cult is not based on some rando tweet, as I understand it, but a real and long-lasting alliance lasting generations. The Moonies were supported in coming to Japan by Abe's father (IIRC), and his mother is a member.

[Josquius]

Abe's connection to the Moon cult is not based on some rando tweet, as I understand it, but a real and long-lasting alliance lasting generations. The Moonies were supported in coming to Japan by Abe's father (IIRC), and his mother is a member.

I mean thats when it seems this guy cottoned onto it and previously loved Abe.

[Jacob]

I mean thats when it seems this guy cottoned onto it and previously loved Abe.

Oh I see. Yeah maybe.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

in so far it matter: maybe the thread title should be changed as Abe was most definately shot

[Jacob]

in so far it matter: maybe the thread title should be changed as Abe was most definately shot

Sure and done.

[crazy canuck]

If you are going to update it, why leave the suggestion he might still be alive?