The much-awaited trial of the man accused of murdering former prime minister Shinzo Abe starts on Tuesday.
Lawyers for Tetsuya Yamagami (44) will not contest his guilt, but are expected to argue for clemency based on his tragic past.
Abe was killed with a home-made gun in Nara city in July 2022. He was the first Japanese prime minister assassinated since 1936.
Many initially suspected the assassin had been driven by ideology, but it now seems clear that he bore a grudge.
Yamagami was born the son of a construction boss in 1980 into a prosperous family that subsequently fell apart. His father took his own life when Tetsuya was four.
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