A man accused of killing former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial, BBC reported.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, told a court in the capital Tokyo that "everything is true", according to local media. 

Yamagami used a homemade gun to shoot Abe during a political campaign event in the western city of Nara in 2022.

Abe - who was known for his hawkish foreign policy and a signature economic strategy that popularly came to be known as "Abenomics" - was struck several times, and died in hospital later the same day, sending shockwaves around the world, according to BBC.