Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is on the ground after an apparent shooting during an election campaign for the Upper House elections in Nara, western Japan, on July 8, 2022.KYODO / Reuters
Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese prime minister, was gathering a crowd at a crowded intersection in the western city of Nara on Friday morning when what appeared to be a large fireworks display shot behind him. As Mr. Abe turned to the growing cloud of white smoke, another shot rang out and he was struck twice in the chest and neck.
The 67-year-old man crashed to the ground, where spectators tried to resuscitate him before he was taken to an ambulance and then by helicopter to a nearby hospital. A team of 20 doctors worked with him for more than five hours, but around 5pm local time, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, still a giant in the country’s politics, was declared dead.
The bullet that killed Mr Abe was “deep enough to reach his heart,” and doctors were unable to stop the bleeding, a spokesman for Nara Medical University Hospital told reporters.
Police arrested Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old local man. The photos of the scene showed Mr. Yamagami holding what appeared to be a homemade pistol before Mr. Yamagami’s security personnel. Abe approached him. Witnesses said he did not attempt to flee after the shooting.
At a news conference Friday night, Nara police said Mr. Yamagami had confessed to killing Mr. Abe and was motivated by a “hatred towards a certain group,” with which he believed that Mr. Abe was connected. They did not provide further details on the possible reason.
Japanese leader Fumio Kishida said he was “simply blown away by the news of Abe’s death.”
During a previous press conference, a visibly emotional Mr Kishida had spoken out of his hope that Mr Abe would succeed, and said doctors were doing everything they could for his former mentor. He called the attack an “act of brutality” and “absolutely unforgivable.”
Mr. Abe had been baffled by a candidate in Sunday’s upper house election when he was assassinated, and while Mr. Kishida and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party suspended all events for Friday, the prime minister said the campaign would resume on Saturday.
“Despite this tragedy, free and fair elections are a foundation of democracy and must be protected,” Kishida said.
Akie Abe, the former leader’s wife, had flown to Nara, near Osaka, to be by his side and was there when Mr Abe was pronounced dead.
Armed violence is incredibly rare in Japan, where there are strict regulations on gun ownership. Last year, only 10 gun-related incidents were reported, according to the country’s National Police Agency.
Police said the weapon used in Friday’s attack was manufactured by Mr. Yamagami, a former member of the Japanese army. Photos of the scene showed a square-looking pistol with a pistol grip and two cannons covered in black tape. Witnesses described him as a small “bazooka” and the shots let out a lot of smoke and noise.
A search of Mr. Yamagami’s house found several additional homemade weapons, similar to the one allegedly used in the attack, which police said was 43 inches long and was made of a mixture of materials such as metal and the wood.
While the use of this weapon suggests some degree of planning on the part of the alleged assailant, Mr Abe’s appearance in Nara was only confirmed the night before, the local office of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said.
Kei Sato, the LDP candidate who supported Mr. Abe, shared news of his upcoming Facebook appearance Friday morning.
Images from Japanese broadcaster NHK showed Mr. Yamagami, dressed in beige pants, a gray shirt and a white mask, waiting for Mr. Abe at the crowded intersection in the center of Nara where he delivered his speech.
Mr. Abe had been talking for about 30 minutes when Mr. Yamagami opened fire. The first shot did not hit the former prime minister, who turned to the sound and was hit by a second volley. Mr Abe fell to the ground after the second shot, bleeding profusely, while Mr Yamagami was approached by police.
Politicians across the political spectrum expressed outrage over Friday’s attack.
Kenta Izumi, leader of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, said the incident was “absolutely unforgivable.” The successor of Mr. Abe as prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, called the attack a “cowardly action that rejects one of the foundations of democracy, the campaign.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the assassination of Mr. Abe’s “incredibly shocking” and said he was “deeply saddened.”
“The world has lost a great man of vision and Canada has lost a close friend,” Trudeau said. “My thoughts are with his wife, Akie, and the people of Japan as they mourn this loss. You will be missed, my friend.”
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, praised Mr. Abe as a “champion” of the US-Japan alliance, and a bulwark of democracy in East Asia.
“This is a tragedy for Japan and for all who knew it. Armed violence always leaves a deep scar on the communities affected by it,” Biden said in a statement.
First elected to parliament in 1993, Mr. Abe became prime minister in 2006, but had to resign the following year due to ill health. He returned to the presidency in 2012, serving for eight years, the longest term of any Japanese prime minister.
During this time, he transformed the Japanese economy and proposed a strong foreign policy, adopting hard lines with North Korea and China and building a strong relationship with then-US President Donald Trump.
Even after retiring in 2020, again due to the chronic illness that ended his previous period as leader, Mr. Abe continued to be very influential in Japanese politics and the LDP in particular, leading what is known as the “Abe faction” of the Conservative party. .
His immediate successor, Mr. Suga, who previously served as secretary to his cabinet, struggled to match the popularity of Mr. Abe and resigned after a year in office.
The current Prime Minister, Mr. Kishida, is a protégé of Mr. Abe, however, has marked a series of policies that would break with “Abenomics.” A strong show in Sunday’s election was seen as a potential opportunity for Mr. Kishida to step out of the shadow of his mentor and exercise greater control over the LDP.
“Abe’s role has been so great for so long, even with his stays in the desert,” said Tobias Harris, author of The Iconoclast, a biography of the former leader, wrote on Twitter. He said it was “difficult to put into words how shocking” Friday’s shooting was.
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