Shinzo Abe was assassinated for his ties with the Unification Church, an exploitative sect. It had nothing to do with his political work, and everything to do with his support of the sect behind the scenes.
Uhhuh. That sounds like political work. If you want to be successful in politics, you need networking. Some of it is perfectly legit, no matter who's looking at it, some of it is extremely dubious in the eyes of those who don't share the whatever values the people involved have. Some of it may turn out to be outright criminal, which is what certain largely unpublished files in the USA are all about. All of it may be counted as a part of a politician's work, in good and in bad. It's just that kind of work, which is why it's usually not among the most respected jobs in many countries. No idea about its perception in Japan. Nevetheless, if you are a prime minister and you support a sect, it's automatically political. The highest politicians can barely even say anything publicly without it being interpreted in political terms.