Japanese police have admitted there were lapses in security for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot dead in the southern city of Nara on Friday.

"It is undeniable that there have been security problems," Nara police chief Tomoaki Onizuka said.

A gunman opened fire on Abe at a political campaign event - a crime that has deeply shocked Japan.

A motorcade carrying Abe's body has arrived at his home in Tokyo.

Police say the suspect, identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, had a grudge against a "specific organization".

He believed Abe was part of it, they said.

Yamagami admitted to shooting her with a homemade gun, according to police.

"The urgent matter is that we carry out a full investigation to clarify what happened," said police chief Onizuka, without specifying where he saw wrongdoing.

He was on the verge of tears while addressing reporters.

Japanese media cited sources close to the investigation who said Yamagami believed Abe was connected to a religious group which, according to Yamagami, had financially ruined his mother.

Yamagami told police he had served in the Japanese navy, the Self-Defense Force, for three years.

Recently, he had been working in a factory in western Japan.

/Telegraph/