Japan's government has asked a court to remove the legal standing and tax breaks of the Unification Church, which was tied to the shocking assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year.

The assassination, allegedly motivated by a grudge Abe's suspected killer held against the Unification Church, has put the relationship between Japan and the church under a new spotlight.

Tetsuya Yamagami, the unemployed 41-year-old who confessed to assassinating Shinzo Abe, reportedly planned the attack for months. He told police his motivations were not political.

The influential prime minister worked to revive the economy with his trademark "Abenomics" and rebuild Japan's role on the global stage. His assassination stunned a nation where gun violence is rare.

Japan, with famously strict laws, has among the world's lowest rates of gun ownership and gun violence. In 2018 there were just nine firearm deaths reported in Japan, compared with 39,740 in the U.S.

Here are photos from the scene when Japan's former leader, Shinzo Abe, was assassinated while giving a campaign speech.