Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- Japan’s longest-serving premier and a figure of enduring influence -- died after being shot at a campaign event Friday in an attack that shocked a nation where political violence and guns are rare.
Abe, 67, was shot from about 3 meters (10 feet) away with what appeared to be a homemade firearm in the western city of Nara, as he was giving a campaign speech for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party ahead of a Sunday election. Video and images from the scene showed the former premier collapsing to the ground, with blood on his shirt.
Abe was flown by helicopter from the scene and taken to Nara Medical University Hospital, where he had no vital signs upon arrival, Hidetada Fukushima, the doctor who treated Abe said at a news conference. The former premier suffered two gunshot wounds to his neck and damage to his chest. He was given transfusions but was pronounced dead at 5:03 p.m., after massive blood loss.
Prior to news of the death, top officials from the ruling LDP said the upper house election would go ahead, albeit with increased security. The ruling party’s bloc has been expected to retain its majority in the upper house.
“For this to happen during an election, which is the foundation of democracy is unforgivable. I condemn it,” current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said before the news of the death. He is likely to speak again later Friday, NHK reported.
The suspect was identified by local media as a 41-year-old local man who was a veteran of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The man told police he intended to kill Abe because he was frustrated with the former premier, national public broadcaster NHK said. The man’s home was searched by police and explosives were found, NHK said.
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The incident was one of Japan’s highest profile acts of political violence since World War Two. World leaders expressed concern over Abe, who spent more time as premier than anyone since Japan established the office in the 1880s.
“He was the single most powerful politician in Japan. He clearly had the ability to set the political agenda in ways that others -- including Kishida -- do not,” said Tobias Harris, a senior fellow for Asia at the American Progress think tank who has written a biography of Abe.
Japan is a country with some of the strictest gun laws among leading economies and shootings are rare. But political violence still occurs from time to time: In 2007, Itcho Ito, the mayor of Nagasaki, died after being shot twice by a member of an organized crime gang. The last time a current or former Japanese prime minister was shot was 90 years ago.
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There were few details about the weapon used in the attack on Abe. Video from the scene showed what appeared to be two long tubes wrapped together with black tape on the ground at the scene.
Abe’s record-setting run brought stability to Japan after a revolving door of six administrations, including a previous stint by where he served as leader. Abe helped Japan escape from a cycle of deflation, endured a Trump administration that questioned the nation’s only military alliance, and worked to improve ties with its biggest trading partner China, which were at their most hostile in decades when he took office.
The first Japanese premier born after the country’s defeat in World War II -- and a vocal defender of its postwar record -- Abe sought to end apologies for past imperialism and successfully reinterpreted the country’s pacifist constitution to loosen restrictions on the military. He nonetheless managed to stabilize relations with neighbouring China, where a wave of anti-Japanese protests had raged in the weeks before his second election as leader.
Abe also devoted energy to trying to resolve a World War II territorial dispute with Russia, which has simmered for seven decades, lavishing hospitality on Vladimir Putin, in a policy that was reversed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Abe is perhaps best known for his plans to revive Japan’s flagging economy through unprecedented monetary easing and regulatory reform that was eventually labelled “Abenomics.” He has been seen as a steady hand who has consolidated power during his record run and been able to overcome scandals, including one that came to light in 2017 over questionable government land allocations for schools provided to associates of Abe and his wife Akie.
The news of his shooting left world leaders, Japanese citizens and his political colleagues shaken.
“I thought it impossible for something like this to happen in this day and age, in the 21st century,” said Yoshitaka Sakurada, who served as a minister under Abe.
