Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on Friday in a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind while delivering a campaign speech, an attack that shocked a nation with some of the strictest gun control laws in the world.
Abe, 67, who was Japan’s longest-serving leader when he resigned in 2020, collapsed bleeding and was flown to a nearby hospital in Nara, although he was not breathing and his heart had broken. stopped. He was later pronounced dead after receiving massive blood transfusions, officials said.
The head of the emergency department at Nara Medical University, Hidetada Fukushima, said Abe suffered significant heart damage, along with two neck injuries that damaged an artery. He never regained his vital signs, Fukushima said.
Police at the scene of the shooting arrested Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, a former member of the Japanese navy, on suspicion of murder. Police said they used a gun that was obviously homemade _ about 15 inches (40 centimeters) long _ and confiscated similar weapons and their personal computer when they attacked their apartment from a nearby room.
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Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in the center, falls to the ground in Nara, western Japan, on Friday, July 8, 2022. Abe had heart failure after apparently receiving a shot during a campaign speech on Friday. western Japan, public television NHK said on Friday. (Kyodo News via AP).
Police said Yamagami was calmly answering questions and had admitted to attacking Abe, telling investigators he had planned to kill him because he believed rumors about the former leader’s connection to a particular organization that police did not identify.
A spectacular video from NHK showed Abe standing and giving a speech in front of a train station before Sunday’s parliamentary election. When he raised his fist to make a point, two shots rang out, and he collapsed grabbing his chest, his shirt smeared with blood as the security guards ran toward him. Then the guards jumped on the gunman, who was face down on the sidewalk, and a double-barreled gun was seen nearby.
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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his cabinet ministers hurriedly returned to Tokyo from campaign events elsewhere after the shooting, which he described as “costly and barbaric”. He promised that the elections, which elect members for Japan’s least powerful upper house of parliament, will continue as planned.
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“I use the harshest words to condemn (the act),” Kishida said, struggling to control his emotions. He said the government will review the security situation, but added that Abe had maximum protection.
Although out of office, Abe still had great influence in the Liberal Democratic Party government and led his largest faction, Seiwakai, but his ultranationalist views made him a divisive figure for many.
Opposition leaders condemned the attack as a challenge to Japan’s democracy. Kenta Izumi, leader of Japan’s top opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, called it “an act of terrorism” and said it “tried to nullify freedom of expression … by actually provoking a situation in which the (Abe’s) speech will never be heard again. “
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In Tokyo, people stopped to buy additional editions of newspapers or watch TV coverage of the shooting. Flowers were placed at the scene of the shooting in Nara.
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When he resigned as prime minister, Abe blamed the recurrence of the ulcerative colitis he had since he was a teenager. He said at the time it was difficult to leave many of his goals unfinished, especially his failure to solve the problem of the Japanese kidnapped years ago by North Korea, a territorial dispute with Russia and a revision of the Japanese constitution renouncing war.
The murder of @AbeShinzo is incredibly shocking, and I am deeply saddened. The world has lost a great man of vision and Canada has lost a close friend. My thoughts are with his wife, Akie, and the people of Japan as he mourns this loss. You will be missed, my friend.
– Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 8, 2022
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That ultranationalism irritated Korea and China, and their drive to create what they saw as a more normal defensive stance angered many Japanese. Abe did not achieve his beloved goal of formally rewriting the pacifist constitution drafted by the United States due to lack of public support.
Loyalists said his legacy was a stronger relationship between the U.S. and Japan that aimed to strengthen Japan’s defense capacity. But Abe became enemies by forcing his defense goals and other controversial issues through parliament, despite strong public opposition.
Abe was prepared to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. His political rhetoric often focused on making Japan a “normal” and “beautiful” nation with a stronger military and a more important role in international affairs.
World leaders received tributes to Abe, and many expressed shock and sadness. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, praised him, saying that “his vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific will last. Above all, he was deeply concerned for the Japanese people and dedicated his life to their service.”
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose term between 2005 and 2021 largely overlapped with Abe’s, said she was devastated by the “cowardly and vile murder”. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a day of national mourning for Abe on Saturday, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted that he will be remembered for “his collegiality and commitment to multilateralism.”
This aerial photo shows the shooting scene in Nara, western Japan, on Friday, July 8, 2022. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suffered heart failure after being shot during a campaign speech on Friday in western Japan, public television NHK said. Friday. (Kyodo News via AP) (Kyodo News via AP).
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian declined to comment, apart from saying that Beijing offered condolences to Abe’s family and that the shooting should not be related to bilateral relations. But posts on the country’s social media were harsh, and some called the gunman a “hero” _ reflecting a strong feeling against right-wing Japanese politicians questioning or denying that the Japanese army committed atrocities of war in China.
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Biden, who faces the summer of mass shootings in the United States, also said that “armed violence always leaves a deep scar on the communities affected.”
Japan is especially known for its strict gun laws. With a population of 125 million, it only had 10 gun-related criminal cases last year, which resulted in one death and four injuries, according to police. Eight of these cases were related to gangs. Tokyo had no gun incidents, injuries or deaths the same year, although 61 guns were confiscated.
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Abe was proud of his work to strengthen Japan’s security alliance with the United States and was the pastor of the first visit by a US president, Barack Obama, to the bomb-bombed city of Hiroshima atomic. It also helped Tokyo gain the right to host the 2020 Olympics by promising that a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was “under control” when it was not.
He became Japan’s youngest prime minister in 2006, at the age of 52, but his first stage, too nationalist, ended abruptly a year later, also because of his health.
We are all saddened and shocked by the execution of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Abe-san has been a prominent leader in Japan and an unwavering ally of the United States. The U.S. government and the American people pray for the well-being of Abe-san, his family, and the people of Japan.
– US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel (@USAmbJapan) July 8, 2022
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The end of Abe’s first period of scandals as prime minister was the start of six years of annual leadership change, remembered as an era of “revolving door” politics that had no stability.
When he returned to office in 2012, Abe promised to revitalize the nation and get its economy out of the deflationary crisis with its “Abenomics” formula, which combines fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms.
He won six national elections and gained solid control of power, strengthening the role and defense capability of Japan and its security alliance with the United States. He also took a step …