TOKYO (REUTERS) - The man who has confessed to assassinating former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe will undergo psychiatric evaluation until later this year.

Tetsuya Yamagami, an unemployed 41-year-old, has been identified by police as the shooter who approached Mr Abe during a campaign speech on a street corner on July 8 and opened fire with a handmade gun.

A court in Nara in western Japan, where Yamagami lived and the shooting occurred, granted prosecutors' request that he be held for psychiatric examination, Nikkei and other media outlets reported on Saturday (July 23).

The evaluation will last until Nov 29, and will determine whether or not Yamagami will be indicted for the shooting, according to Nikkei.