A pre-trial hearing for the man accused of killing Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe was cancelled Monday because of a suspicious object which was later found not to be dangerous, local media reported.
Tetsuya Yamagami had been due to appear at Nara District Court for an afternoon hearing over Abe's broad-daylight shooting that shocked the world in July last year.
But the building was evacuated and the session cancelled after a suspicious item, reportedly a cardboard box addressed to Yamagami, was delivered to the court.
Authorities later confirmed the box contained documents and was not dangerous, having taken it to an open area for a bomb squad to investigate, Jiji Press and other outlets said.
Police and the court did not immediately confirm details when contacted by AFP.
Yamagami, 42, faces charges of murder and violation of arms control laws, and could face the death penalty if convicted.
He reportedly targeted Abe -- Japan's best-known politician and longest-serving prime minister -- over his ties to the Unification Church, the global sect whose members are sometimes referred to as "Moonies".
The suspect is believed to have resented the church over large donations his mother made that bankrupted his family.
Abe died after being shot with an apparently homemade gun while speaking at a campaign event in Nara.
The circumstances of the assassination have caused scrutiny of what authorities admitted were security shortcomings, and led to the resignation of Japan's police chief.
Before Monday's cancelled hearing, Yamagami underwent a psychiatric assessment that ended in January.
He had spent three years in the navy following a childhood reportedly marred by his father's suicide and his mother's alleged neglect and devotion to church activities.
Details of his upbringing have stoked anger in Japan against the Unification Church and garnered Yamagami sympathy, with supporters showing support for him through donations and a petition calling for leniency.
The Unification Church was founded in Korea in the 1950s by self-styled messiah Sun Myung Moon.
In a letter published by Japanese media, Yamagami accused Abe of supporting the sect and expressed resentment towards the group.
The church has confirmed his mother's membership but refused to specify the amount of donations she made, which reports said may have totalled around 100 million yen ($700,000).
Less than a year after Abe's death, in April, a man hurled an explosive device towards Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shortly before he was due to deliver a campaign speech in the city of Wakayama.
The leader escaped unharmed, but the fact that an assailant was able to throw the device at such close range prompted renewed criticism of security arrangements in Japan.