Photo/Illutration Tetsuya Yamagami, the susupect in the slaying of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last July, is taken to the Nara-Nishi Police Station in Nara on Jan. 10 following a psychiatric evaluation. (Nobuhiro Shirai)

A steady stream of gifts, including cash, have been sent to Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of murdering former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The Osaka Detention House, where Yamagami, 42, underwent a psychiatric evaluation for five and a half months, ran out of space for the presents and letters sent to the suspect.

Yamagami’s uncle, 77, has collected some of the items.

“I didn’t think (people) would send so many gifts,” the uncle said.

Almost daily during the psychiatric evaluation period, letters and presents, including books, snacks and clothes, were addressed to Yamagami.

The amount of money sent has exceeded 1 million yen ($7,600).

After the evaluation, which determined that he was fit to stand trial, Yamagami was taken back to the Nara prefectural police’s Nara-Nishi Police Station on Jan. 10.

Nara prefectural police on Jan. 11 said they sent papers to prosecutors for an additional charge of violating the Swords and Firearms Control Law.

Yamagami has not been allowed to meet people except for his lawyer and certain family members, so he has been unable to read the letters.

Reports about what led Yamagami to fatally shoot Abe in July last year appear to have won him supporters.

He has told investigators that his mother’s hefty and repeated donations to the Unification Church ruined the family, and that he attacked Abe because of his connections to the church.

According to his relatives and other sources, Yamagami was highly motivated to learn, and he attended an elite high school.

He obtained qualifications as a real-estate transaction specialist and financial planner, among other things.

But because of his mother’s donations to the church, the family did not have enough money to allow Yamagami to pursue his dreams of higher education, they said.

“Tetsuya used to say, ‘I wanted to go to a university,” the uncle said. “It is still a long way off, but I hope he can study at a university with this gift money and hopefully lead him to rehabilitation.”

One relative has sent Yamagami a workbook to pass the level 1 English-language proficiency test.

The uncle said he himself has received multiple letters, including one that read, “Please tell (Yamagami), ‘Hang in there.’”

Another letter writer regretted not knowing about the shady donation practices and “spiritual sales” of the Unification Church.

Many social media posts have painted the church as the villain in the case but said Yamagami’s actions were wrong.

“The church is a problem, but it cannot justify murder,” one post said.

Masayuki Kiriu, a professor of criminal psychology at Toyo University, said Abe’s slaying had a huge impact on society and further exposed relations between the church and politicians.

“Many people developed empathy for Yamagami in connection with their sense of stagnation and distrust of government,” he said. “But it is dangerous.

“The crime should be isolated from its background, which was exposed after the incident. Distrust and dissatisfaction toward society and the sense of compassion toward the suspect’s motivation should also be separated,” he said.

Sources said that during the evaluation, a psychiatrist asked Yamagami about his mental state during the shooting and the psychological impact that the Unification Church left on him.

“I am sick and tired of being asked the same questions over and over,” the sources quoted Yamagami as replying.

He was also upset by words and deeds of staff at the detention house, and he made an insulting remark in October, for which he was punished in November, the sources said.

Yamagami’s lawyer said his client met with a psychiatrist once a week during the evaluation period. But after the Nov. 29 detention period deadline was extended, he had such meetings twice a week.

Yamagami is healthy, the lawyer said.

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