On December 3, Abe Akie, the widow of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, sat in the back seat of a car and bowed to the press.

A few hours earlier, she came face-to-face for the first time with the defendant accused of killing her husband.

S/ Abe Shinzo, Former Prime Minister / Hello everyone. I am Abe Shinzo.

Yamagami Tetsuya, circled in red, stands accused of murder and other charges for shooting Abe during an election campaign speech in Nara three years ago.

Using a system that allows bereaved families to question the accused, Akie appeared in court on the fourth day of questioning the defendant.

Wearing a dark-colored jacket and skirt, she bowed solemnly inside the courtroom.

This was Akie’s first appearance in Yamagami’s trial, which has held 13 hearings as of December 3.

S/ Abe Akie / It truly feels like he’s gone. The loneliness grows day by day.

More than three years have passed since Abe Shinzo was killed.

In previous hearings, statements submitted by Akie recounting the day’s events were read aloud in court.

S/ Abe Akie (voice reenactment) / It was a regular morning like any other. The shock was so overwhelming that I could not comprehend it. I am far from finding closure for the grief of losing my husband. I wanted him to live a long life.

In the hearing on December 3, Akie sat in the center of the second row on the prosecution’s side and watched Yamagami.

At the start of his questioning, Yamagami turned toward the prosecution side where Akie was seated and bowed.

The day before, Yamagami spoke a little about his motive.

S/ Yamagami Tetsuya (voice reenactment), Defendant / Former Prime Minister Abe was at the center of ties between the Unification Church and politics. I thought other politicians would have less significance.

This was his third questioning in court.

More details came out the next day.

S/ Prosecutor (voice reenactment) / You hadn’t been looking up election information online but suddenly started doing so on July 3 (five days before the incident), correct?

S/ Yamagami Tetsuya (voice reenactment), Defendant / I think that was when I realized senior officials of the Unification Church were not coming to Japan. (Former Prime Minister Abe) was never my primary target, but he was always in the back of my mind. If the intended targets from the Unification Church weren’t coming, I considered who else to target and ended up deciding to attack former Prime Minister Abe.

Yamagami said he decided on July 3, 2022, to target Abe.

S/ Prosecutor (voice reenactment) / Were you fully convinced about making Abe your target?

S/ Yamagami Tetsuya (voice reenactment), Defendant / My real target was the Unification Church. Attacking its most prominent supporter wasn’t meaningless, but I didn’t see it as my primary goal.

Yamagami explained that targeting Abe was not his main objective.

Akie apparently watched his expression intently as he responded calmly.

S/ Prosecutor (voice reenactment) / You haven’t expressed any intention to apologize to the victim, correct?

S/ Yamagami Tetsuya (voice reenactment), Defendant / Correct.

S/ Prosecutor (voice reenactment) / Are you not considering (apologizing) to those harmed at this point?

S/ Yamagami Tetsuya (voice reenactment), Defendant / I thought (I wouldn’t do so) until the trial was over.

His defense counsel also questioned him.

S/ Defense lawyer (voice reenactment) / What did you think would happen to your life after you decided to carry out the attack?

S/ Yamagami Tetsuya (voice reenactment), Defendant / I believed striking back at the Unification Church was the meaning of my life.

Akie did not pose any questions to Yamagami.

After the hearing ended, she bowed to the judge, the defense and the gallery before leaving the courtroom.

Yamagami kept his head lowered throughout this moment.

Questioning of the defendant will continue this week, and the hearings are scheduled to conclude on December 18.

It is unclear whether Akie will have an opportunity to speak at the trial.