Shinzo Abe killed: Latest updates
- Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, 67, was pronounced dead on Friday at a hospital in Nara, where he was speaking at a campaign stop for a candidate in parliamentary elections this weekend. An emotional Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the killing: “We cannot accept that this violent act took place during an election, the foundation of democracy.”
- Japan, a nation where private citizens can’t own handguns, was shocked by Mr. Abe’s assassination, the first time a sitting or former prime minister has been killed since the prewar power struggles of the 1930s. Authorities are still piecing together how the suspect, identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, obtained his apparently homemade firearm.
- World leaders paid tribute to the late Japanese statesman, and some declared official mourning at home. President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, home of the largest Japanese population outside Japan, announced three days of national mourning; U.S. President Joe Biden said flags would be flown at half-mast through Sunday.
- Thousands of people thronged the streets of Tokyo on Tuesday to watch a black hearse carrying Mr. Abe’s body pass by before he was laid to rest. Some mourners bowed or clasped their hands, while others shouted out thanks for his contributions to the country.
How the attack unfolded
Former prime minister Shinzo Abe, 67, was in the western city of Nara on Friday to support Kei Sato, a fellow member of the Liberal Democratic Party who is running for re-election to the Japanese parliament’s upper house. Mr. Abe greeted a crowd at a traffic island outside Yamato Saidaiji train station before speaking. Members of Japan’s secret service, the Security Police, were with Mr. Abe, but no roads were closed and regular traffic was going past them.
At around 11:30 a.m., as Mr. Abe raised his fist to make a point, two shots rang out behind him. He collapsed and blood began to spread under his white shirt. Police’s attention quickly turned to a man behind Mr. Abe in a grey T-shirt and beige pants. Businessman Makoto Ichikawa described the scene to Reuters news agency:
There was a loud bang and then smoke. The first shot, no one knew what was going on, but after the second shot, what looked like special police tackled him.
Mr. Abe was airlifted to hospital and arrived without vital signs, according to Hidetada Fukushima, Nara Medical University’s emergency department chief. The injuries to Mr. Abe’s chest and neck caused extensive bleeding. Blood transfusions and other emergency treatment could not save his life, and he was pronounced dead at 5:03 p.m.
The suspect and his weapon
Nara police said the 41-year-old suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, was a resident of the city who had worked in the Maritime Self-Defence Forces for three years but now appeared to be unemployed. The suspect said he bore a grudge against a “specific organization” and believed Mr. Abe was part of it, police said, but added that his grudge was not about politics and it was not clear whether the organization actually existed.
Witnesses and police have also noted the unusual weapon, a boxy-looking double barrelled contraption covered in black tape. Gun violence is rare in Japan and firearms are heavily regulated, so a homemade weapon suggests a degree of planning on the assailant’s part. But the local office of Mr. Abe’s party said his appearance in Nara was confirmed only the night before.
For weeks before the assassination, Mr. Yamagami prepared, stockpiling homemade firearms and explosives and studying the former Japanese prime minister’s schedule. Police said they found other weapons with three, five and six barrels in Mr. Yamagami’s home, as well as rudimentary explosives.
Who was Shinzo Abe?
The scion of an old political family, Mr. Abe was Japan’s youngest prime minister when he first took power in 2006; that term lasted only a year, but when he returned in 2012 he served for eight more years before resigning in 2020, citing ill health.
He and his Liberal Democratic Party introduced a mix of fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms – dubbed “Abenomics” – to turn an ailing economy around. Under his leadership, Japan took an increasingly active global defence role alongside its ally, the United States. But to do this, he sought to roll back the U.S.-drafted constitution of 1947, in which a defeated Japan renounced war and limited its armed forces to self-defence only. Mr. Abe’s hawkishness, and his support for ultra-conservatives’ efforts to whitewash Japan’s Second World War-era atrocities, did not endear him to liberals at home or East Asian nations such as China or the Koreas.
Mr. Abe left office without achieving his goal of constitutional reform, nor did he get to preside over the Tokyo Olympics that he had lobbied for. But he had set a record as the longest-serving prime minister in a country that changes leaders often. In death, Mr. Abe sets another, darker precedent: The first sitting or former prime minister to be assassinated since prewar times.
He leaves a wife, Akie Abe, and no children.
Longest-serving Japanese prime ministers
Days in office
Shinzo Abe
Resigned on Sept. 16, 2020, having served total of 3,188 days – 2,822 consecutive days since start of second term
2006-2007, 2012-2020
3,188
Taro Katsura
Three terms between 1901 and 1913
2,886
Eisaku Sato
1964-1972
2,798
Ito Hirobumi
Four terms between 1885 and 1901
2,720
Shigeru Yoshida
Two terms between 1946 and 1954
2,616
Junichiro Koizumi
2001-2006
1,980
Yasuhiro Nakasone
1982-1987
1,806
Hayato Ikeda
1960-1964
1,575
Saionji Kinmochi
1906-08, 1911-12
1,531
Nobusuke Kishi
1957-1960
1,266
Key figures in Abe’s political family
Nobusuke Kishi
Mr. Abe’s maternal grandfather was PM from 1957 to 1960; an assailant stabbed him in 1960, but he survived
Eisaku Sato
Mr. Kishi’s brother was PM from 1964 to 1972, becoming Japan’s longest-serving leader until Mr. Abe
Shintaro Abe
Mr. Abe’s father was foreign minister in the 1980s and a major figure in the Liberal Democratic Party
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
Longest-serving Japanese prime ministers
Days in office
Shinzo Abe
Resigned on Sept. 16, 2020, having served total of 3,188 days – 2,822 consecutive days since start of second term
2006-2007, 2012-2020
3,188
Taro Katsura
Three terms between 1901 and 1913
2,886
Eisaku Sato
1964-1972
2,798
Ito Hirobumi
Four terms between 1885 and 1901
2,720
Shigeru Yoshida
Two terms between 1946 and 1954
2,616
Junichiro Koizumi
2001-2006
1,980
Yasuhiro Nakasone
1982-1987
1,806
Hayato Ikeda
1960-1964
1,575
Saionji Kinmochi
1906-08, 1911-12
1,531
Nobusuke Kishi
1957-1960
1,266
Key figures in Abe’s political family
Nobusuke Kishi
Mr. Abe’s maternal grandfather was PM from 1957 to 1960; an assailant stabbed him in 1960, but he survived
Eisaku Sato
Mr. Kishi’s brother was PM from 1964 to 1972, becoming Japan’s longest-serving leader until Mr. Abe
Shintaro Abe
Mr. Abe’s father was foreign minister in the 1980s and a major figure in the Liberal Democratic Party
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
Longest-serving Japanese prime ministers
Days in office
3,188
Shinzo Abe
2006-2007, 2012-2020
2,886
Taro Katsura
Three terms between 1901 and 1913
Eisaku Sato
1964-1972
2,798
Ito Hirobumi
Four terms between 1885 and 1901
2,720
Shigeru Yoshida
Two terms between 1946 and 1954
2,616
Junichiro Koizumi
2001-2006
1,980
1,806
Yasuhiro Nakasone
1982-1987
Shinzo Abe
Resigned on Sept. 16, 2020, having
served total of 3,188 days – 2,822
consecutive days since start
of second term
Hayato Ikeda
1960-1964
1,575
Saionji Kinmochi
1906-08, 1911-12
1,531
Nobusuke Kishi
1957-1960
1,266
Key figures in Abe’s political family
Nobusuke Kishi
Mr. Abe’s maternal grandfather was PM from 1957 to 1960; an assailant stabbed him in 1960, but he survived
Shintaro Abe
Mr. Abe’s father was foreign minister in the 1980s and a major figure in the Liberal Democratic Party
Eisaku Sato
Mr. Kishi’s brother was PM from 1964 to 1972, becoming Japan’s longest-serving leader until Mr. Abe
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
Global reaction so far
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
The assassination of @AbeShinzo is incredibly shocking – and I’m 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 they mourn this loss. You’ll be missed, my friend.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 8, 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden
I am stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened by the news that my friend Abe Shinzo, former Prime Minister of Japan, was shot and killed. He was a champion of the friendship between our people.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 8, 2022
The United States stands with Japan in this moment of grief.
South Korean President Yoon Sook-yeol
I send my condolences to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's family and the Japanese people.
— President Yoon Suk Yeol (@President_KR) July 8, 2022
An act of terrorism during an election is a brutal attack against the very foundation of democracy. It is utterly unacceptable, and I strongly condemn such an attack.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
I am shocked and saddened beyond words at the tragic demise of one of my dearest friends, Shinzo Abe. He was a towering global statesman, an outstanding leader, and a remarkable administrator. He dedicated his life to make Japan and the world a better place.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2022
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg
Deeply saddened by the heinous killing of Shinzo Abe, a defender of democracy and my friend & colleague over many years. My deepest condolences to his family, PM @kishida230 & the people
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) July 8, 2022
of #NATO’s partner #Japan at this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/8rtdb0G11S
Compiled by Globe staff
Associated Press and Reuters, with reports from James Griffiths
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