Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, 9th July. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, 67 years old was assassinated on Friday during a political campaign rally in Nara, where a 41 year old gunman fired a shot at him, shocked the world and Japan a country unaccustomed to gun violence.
According to police and authorities, they have arrested a 41-year-old man who they said approached Mr. Abe from behind as he gave a speech in the city of Nara and fired twice with what appeared to be an improvised firearm.
A doctor who treated Mr. Abe said he had gunshot wounds near the base of his neck and one bullet pierced his heart, authorities stated in news media.
Late Prime Minister Abe was the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history and remained powerful even after stepping away in 2020.
He called to strengthen the nation’s military, beefed up cooperation with U.S. forces and made Tokyo a more muscular force in international diplomacy, during his term.
Many ally to Mr. Abe and Japan countries such as India, Australia, the U.K. and, the U.S sent tearful condolences to his family and the people of Japan.
U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel said “The United States has lost a trusted partner and an outspoken advocate for our shared ideals,” said the.
India declared a national day of mourning. Australia’s prime minister called Mr. Abe’s death devastating.
Mr. Abe had delivered a speech during his three decades as a member of Parliament and the bloodshed unfolded at a campaign speech when thousands were watching in person and live on TV.
He was visiting Nara to deliver a speech on the street supporting a ruling-party candidate in elections Sunday for Parliament’s upper house.
According to news reports, the security was light, at such events in Japan. When Mr. Abe was prime minister, anyone could get near him at campaign speeches without being checked for weapons.
The man who approached on this day, police said, was Tetsuya Yamagami, who lives in a Nara apartment near the shooting site.
According to the Defense Ministry, a person of that name served in Japan’s navy, known as the Maritime Self-Defense Force, from 2002 to 2005.
Police said that the assailant carried an homemade weapon. Video footage taken after the shooting showed a device on the ground that looked like two metal pipes bound together with tape.
Mr. Abe began his roaring speech at 11am and shortly afterward, two loud bangs rang out, like the sound of fireworks.
The authorities pinned down Mr. Yamagami to the ground and arrested him. But it was too late. Mr. Abe had fallen, stretched out on the ground with blood rushing through his white shirt, reported in several media.
A helicopter carried him to a hospital where he was declared dead at 5:03 p.m. local time.
Police said Mr. Yamagami told them he believed Mr. Abe had links to an unspecified group that Mr. Yamagami had a grudge against.
Police carried out an object that they described as an explosive from his apartment building.
Nara, a city was capital of Japan in the eighth century, is known for its temples and shrines and has a population of about 350,000.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said election campaign in which the ruling coalition is expected to keep control of the government, would resume Saturday.
He said that would show Japan’s freedoms couldn’t be undermined through violence.
“Free and fair elections, which are the basis of democracy, must be absolutely defended,” he said.
Mr. Abe’s influence in the early 21st century was great. He was prime minister for 9 years 2006-07 and then from December 2012 to September 2020.
He brought Japan to the world stage as an important player from Peace and Security to development.
Abe sought, unsuccessfully, to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution, adopted when the country was occupied by U.S. forces after World War II. But he pushed through a de facto revision with a 2015 law that enabled Japan to work more closely with the U.S. in regional conflicts.
Mr. Abe who originated the phrase widely used to describe the Quad’s goal: a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”
President Biden on Friday called Mr. Abe a champion of the U.S.-Japan alliance. “His vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific will endure,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Abe proved himself among the hardiest of political survivors, once again beating back health issues to become head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s largest faction.
He was the most powerful backer of Mr. Kishida’s government, often pushing it in a hawkish direction. With North Korea in mind, Mr. Abe said Japan needed the ability to strike at enemy missile bases to forestall attacks on Japan.
He urged the U.S. to make clear that it would militarily support Taiwan, a democratically self-ruled island, if China carried through on threats to invade. Soon after, Mr. Biden did precisely that on a trip to Tokyo.
Mr. Abe also sought, with mixed success, to revive Japan’s long-struggling economy with his “Abenomics” policies, including radical monetary easing and changes to encourage companies to listen more to their shareholders.
Bank of Japan’s governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, who was picked by Mr. Abe in 2013 said that “Mr. Abe made significant achievements in getting Japan out of longstanding deflation and realizing sustainable economic growth.”
Kenta Izumi, head of the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party said “This is a barbarous act that cannot be permitted”. “This shouldn’t happen in a democracy like ours.”
Japanese law generally limits gun ownership to the police and the military. It also allows for gun licenses for hunting and sports shooting, but only after rigorous background checks.
The last known case in Japan of an assassination with a gun of a prominent politician was in 2007, when the mayor of Nagasaki was shot by a member of a right-wing group.
Police raided the home of the man suspected of using an improvised firearm to assassinate former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and said they seized multiple weapons that also appeared to be homemade.
The discovery followed the arrest of the suspect identified by officials as Tetsuya Yamagishi, 41 in the city of Nara, where Abe had been delivering a campaign speech outdoors ahead of parliamentary elections this weekend.
Local media captured video and photos of the bulky weapon that police said was used to kill Abe.
They confirmed that the firearm consists of two metal barrels attached to a wooden board and is more than a foot long.
“We are conducting forensics, but clearly it looks homemade,” a Nara police chief said at a news conference.
Police said several weapons were found at Yamagishi’s residence and were similar to the firearm believed to be used to shoot Abe. They added that it was unclear whether the suspect had the proper licenses for the weapons.
The shooting death of Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader before resigned in 2020 because of health issues.
According to Japan’s National Police Agency, Japan, a nation of about 125.8 million people, has one of the strictest gun laws in the world. There were just 10 shootings in 2021, with one person killed and four people injured.
The majority of shootings each year are linked to Japanese organized crime, the agency added.
Abe was transported to Nara Medical University Hospital after suffering cardio and pulmonary arrest.
Doctors said he had two gunshot wounds and no vital signs when he arrived less than an hour after the shooting. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 a.m. ET.
Police said that Yamagishi was arrested at the scene and is under investigation for murder.
They said that he confessed to the attack and that he told them he harbored a grudge against a group he believed was connected to Abe.
President Biden is “stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened” over the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, he said in a statement issued on Friday.
“This is a tragedy for Japan and for all who knew him. He was a champion of the Alliance between our nations and the friendship between our people,” Biden said.
“Above all, he cared deeply about the Japanese people and dedicated his life to their service. Even at the moment he was attacked, he was engaged in the work of democracy.”
“While there are many details that we do not yet know, we know that violent attacks are never acceptable and that gun violence always leaves a deep scar on the communities that are affected by it. The United States stands with Japan in this moment of grief,” Biden said.
Former President Barack Obama also expressed his condolences Friday over the assassination, saying he is “shocked and saddened.”
“Former Prime Minister Abe was devoted to both the country he served and the extraordinary alliance between the United States and Japan,” Obama wrote in a tweet, added that the former prime minister was a “friend” and “longtime partner.”
Abe and Obama visited Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor together in 2016.
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