Three years after the assassination of Japan's longest-serving premier startled a country where political violence and gun crime are uncommon, a man accused of shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to death is scheduled to go on trial on Tuesday.
The trial begins on the same day that visiting US President Donald Trump and incumbent Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, two of Abe's former supporters, meet.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, was taken into custody at the scene of the July 2022 incident after he allegedly used a handmade firearm to shoot Abe during the former premier's address at an election campaign in Nara, western Japan.

In 1954, the Unification Church was established in South Korea. It has a large following of Japanese people and is well-known for hosting large weddings.
After completing pretrial sessions, Yamagami is expected to confess to murder while contesting certain aspects of the accusation pertaining to violations of the Ordnance Manufacturing Act and the Firearms and Swords Control Act, according to a Nara District Court official.
Public support for the ruling party, now led by Takaichi, declined after the shooting when it was revealed that over 100 members of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party had connections to the Unification Church.
Following the first court session on Tuesday, which began at 2:00 PM GMT, there will be 17 more hearings by the end of the year before a verdict is rendered on January 21.