While thousands of people came to gather, Tuesday July 12 in Tokyo, on the passage of the funeral procession of Shinzo Abe, the investigation continues into the assassination of the former Japanese Prime Minister.

On Monday, the Unification Church, also known as the "Moon Sect", confirmed that the killer's mother was among its members.

An organization whose alleged killer said he wanted revenge by targeting the former Japanese leader.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, a former member of the Japanese Navy's Maritime Self-Defense Force, "resented a certain organization" and decided to kill Shinzo Abe because he believed the former head of government had a link to it, Japanese police said on Friday.

Japanese media quickly mentioned a religious organization without naming it, and claimed that Tetsuya Yamagami was angry with it because it allegedly obtained large donations from her mother, putting their own family in great financial difficulty.

According to police sources cited by local media, Tetsuya Yamagami watched videos on YouTube showing how to make a homemade firearm like the one used in the attack.

A sect mainly present in the United States and Japan

The Unification Church was founded in 1954 in South Korea by Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012).

It is mainly present in this country as well as in the United States and Japan.

The teachings of this cult famous for its collective mass marriages are based on the Bible, with new interpretations.

A very controversial figure who became a billionaire thanks to the vast economic empire built by his Church, Moon claimed to have had at the age of 15 a vision of Jesus Christ enjoining him to continue his mission, so that humanity reaches a stage of purity. "without sin".

Passage of the funeral procession in front of symbolic places

Shinzo Abe's funeral ceremony took place early Tuesday afternoon at the Zojoji Buddhist temple in the center of the Japanese capital, in the presence of Shinzo Abe's widow, Akie, and the incumbent Prime Minister. , Fumio Kishida.

Many Japanese had spontaneously gathered in the morning in front of the temple to pay homage to the leader whose violent death at the age of 67 shook the country.

"I'm shocked and angry. I can't get over my sadness, so I came to lay flowers and pray," Tsukasa Yokawa, 41, told AFP.

"I really respected him. He was a great prime minister who did a lot to increase Japan's presence in the world."

Public tributes were to be held at a later date in Tokyo and in the Yamaguchi prefecture (southwest), of which Shinzo Abe was one of the deputies in Parliament.

After the ceremony, the funeral procession left the temple to pass in front of political institutions where Shinzo Abe officiated during his career: Parliament, the Prime Minister's office and the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, nationalist right) in power.

In front of each building, ministers, officials and employees bowed with folded hands as the hearse passed.

Sitting in the front of the black vehicle, Akie Abe held in front of her the wooden tablet on which was inscribed the posthumous name of her husband according to Buddhist tradition.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, brother of Shinzo Abe, on Tuesday called the attack a "terrorist act".

"I lost my brother, and Japan lost an irreplaceable leader," he said on Twitter, adding, "My brother loved Japan and risked his life for politics and to protect this nation."

With AFP

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_EN