TOKYO aEUR: Shinzo Abe, a former Japanese Prime Minister and divisive arch-conservative, was shot while delivering a speech in western Japan on Friday. Officials at the hospital confirmed that he had been killed.
Abe, 67 years old, was shot from the behind just minutes after he began his speech in Nara. After being shot from behind, Abe was taken to hospital but was unable to breathe and his heart stopped. Officials at the hospital declared him dead after he received massive blood transfusions and was given emergency treatment.
The suspect gunman was arrested by police at the scene of the attack. Japan is considered one of the most secure countries in the world and has the strictest gun control laws.
After the shooting, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (with his Cabinet ministers) quickly returned to Tokyo from campaign events in the country. He called the shooting “dastardly” and “barbaric.”
Hidetada Fukushima, Nara Medical University’s emergency department chief, said Abe sustained major heart damage and two neck injuries that caused extensive bleeding. Fukushima stated that Abe was in a condition of cardio-pulmonary arrest at the time he arrived at hospital. He never regained vital signs.
Before stepping down in 2020, Abe was Japan’s longest-serving leader.
NHK, public television broadcast a dramatic video showing Abe speaking outside a Nara train station. Two gunshots can be heard as he stands, wearing a navy blue suit and raising his fist. Abe is seen falling to the ground on the street as security guards run towards him. His shirt is stained with blood and he holds onto his chest.
The next moment security guards jump on top of the gray-shirted man who is lying face down on the ground. On the ground, a double-barreled weapon that looked like a handgun was seen.
Nara prefectural police confirmed that Tetsuya Yamagami (41), was arrested on suspicion of attempted killing. NHK reported that the suspect was a member of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, where he served for three years during the 2000s.
Another video from the scene shows Abe and his campaign officials. He was the former leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, and he headed Seiwakai, its largest faction. Sunday will see elections for Japan’s upper chamber, which is the weaker chamber of its parliament.
Kishida, who struggled with his emotions, said that he used the most harsh words to condemn (the action).” While he said that the government would review the security situation and that Abe was the best protected, he added that Abe was the most important.
Leaders of the opposition condemned the attack as a threat to Japan’s democracy. People in Tokyo stopped by the streets to pick up extra newspapers and watch television coverage of the shooting.
Abe, who resigned from his post as prime minister, stated that he had suffered a recurrence in ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager.
At the time, he told reporters that it was difficult to let go of many of his goals. He spoke out about his inability to resolve the Japanese abduction by North Korea years ago, a territorial dispute between Russia and a revision to Japan’s war-renouncing Constitution.
This was his last goal.
His ultra-nationalism angered China and Koreas, while his push for a normalized defense posture angered many Japanese. Poor public support prevented Abe from achieving his beloved goal of officially rewriting the U.S.-drafted, pacifist constitution.
Loyalists claimed that Abe’s legacy was a stronger U.S.–Japan relationship, which was intended to strengthen Japan’s defense capabilities. Abe, despite public opposition, forced his defense goals through parliament.
Abe, a political blueblood, was trained to follow the steps of his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, who was also a former Prime Minister. His political rhetoric was often about making Japan a normal and beautiful nation, with a stronger military and a bigger role in international affairs.
Many foreign officials were shocked by the shooting.
Abe stated that he was proud to have led the Japan-U.S. Security Alliance and facilitated the first U.S. president to visit the atom bombed city of Hiroshima. Abe also helped Tokyo win the right to host 2020 Olympics by promising that Fukushima’s nuclear disaster was under control when it wasn’t.
At 52 years old, Abe was Japan’s youngest prime minster. However, his first stint as Japan’s premier minister ended abruptly a year later due to his health.
Abe’s scandal-ridden first tenure as prime minister ended. This was the beginning six years of leadership changes, which are remembered as an era that saw “revolving door politics” and lacked long-term stability.
Abe, who combined fiscal stimulus, monetary ease, and structural reforms, returned to power in 2012.
Six national elections were won by him, and he held a firm grip on power. This allowed Japan to strengthen its defense capabilities and security alliance with the U.S. He also increased Japan’s international visibility and patriotic education in schools.
