Akie Abe, rear, wife of Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, sits in a hearse which is believed to carry the body of Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as the car leaves a hospital in Kashihara, Nara prefecture, western Japan, July 9, 2022. (Kyodo News via AP)Tetsuya Yamagami, the 41-year-old man who killed former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, believed that Abe was linked to a religious group he blamed for his mother’s financial ruin. He spent months planning the attack with a homemade gun, police told local media on Saturday.
A day after Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister was shot dead while campaigning for the upcoming elections, his body has been taken to Tokyo from Nara city in western Japan. The 67-year-old leader was shot twice by an ex-military man with a homemade gun. Abe died due to loss of blood after a bullet hit an artery under his collarbone, Japanese media house NHK reported, citing police officials. They said that the bullet went through Abe’s upper left arm and damaged a blood vessel under his collarbone.
Abe’s body was taken to his Tokyo residence on Saturday afternoon. His wife Akhi Abe accompanied the hearse. The former PM’s funeral will reportedly be held on July 12.
In a rare gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden and Australian PM Anthony Albanese issued a joint statement on Saturday in which they recalled the key role Shinzo Abe played in setting up of the Quad and pushing for a free and open Indo-Pacific. PM Narendra Modi had earlier condoled Abe’s demise and declared national mourning on July 9.
Shinzo Abe, then-Prime Minister of Japan, seen with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at New Delhi, on December 12, 2015. (Express Photo by Renuka Puri.)
The man suspected of killing former Japanese premier Shinzo Abe with a hand-made gun on Friday could have made the weapon in a day or two after obtaining readily available materials such as wood and metal pipes, analysts say.
The attack showed gun violence cannot be totally eliminated even in a country where tough gun laws mean it is nearly unheard of for citizens to buy or own firearms.
There have been some cases in recent years where people illicitly made weapons themselves in Japan. But still, gun crime is very rare in Japan: last year there were 10 shooting incidents, eight involving gangsters, according to police data. One person was killed and four wounded.
"The making of guns with a 3D printer and the manufacturing of bombs can nowadays be learned off the internet from anywhere in the world," said Mitsuru Fukuda, a Nihon University professor specialised in crisis management and terrorism. (Reuters)
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) could receive a surge of support in an upper house election on Sunday following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the party's leading statesman and power broker.
Abe, Japan's longest-serving modern leader, was gunned down on Friday during a speech in support of a local candidate in the western city of Nara - a killing the political establishment condemned as an attack on democracy itself.
Elections for seats in parliament's less powerful upper house are typically seen as a referendum on the sitting government, and the latest opinion polls already pointed to a strong showing for the ruling bloc led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida - an Abe protege.
As the nation mourns, both the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito could gain from a potential wave of sympathy votes, political analysts said. (Reuters)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday visited the Japanese embassy here and convey condolences to Ambassador Satoshi Suzuki over the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
India on Saturday observed a state mourning as a mark of respect to the longest-serving Japanese leader, who played a major role in strengthening ties between the two nations.
"At a personal level, he was the very embodiment of grace and consideration. I have myself experienced his warmth over the years. We join in the profound sorrow of the people of Japan and convey our support and sympathy to Mrs. Akie Abe," Jaishankar said. (PTI)
Calling Shinzo Abe one of his “dearest friends”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a day-long national mourning for the former Japanese Prime Minister on Saturday.
“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... Abe made an immense contribution to elevating India-Japan relations to the level of a Special Strategic and Global Partnership. Today, whole India mourns with Japan and we stand in solidarity with our Japanese brothers and sisters in this difficult moment,” Modi tweeted.
Abe was one of the most consequential leaders of Japan in its post-war history. He was Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister, staying in the post from 2006 to 2007, and then from 2012 to 2020. During his time in office, Abe was a great friend of India -- a relationship that he invested personally in – and shared a special rapport with Modi. Shubhajit Roy writes
Despite his prominence as Japan’s longest serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe may have enjoyed his biggest moment at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics before 70,000 at the city’s renown Maracana stadium.
As a video was shown with Abe portrayed running late for the handover ceremony, the Japanese prime minister suddenly popped up on stage in Rio — to loud applause — dressed as Super Mario, the famous Nintendo video game character.
He doffed his red cap to the crowd, and there could be no mistake where the Games were going next. The lettering on his red cap spelled it out: Tokyo.Abe died on Friday after he was shot giving a campaign speech in the western Japanese city of Nara.Ever a showman, Abe pushed for the Tokyo Games from the start and then helped keep them on track after being postponed for a year by the Covid-19 pandemic. (AP)
A top police official on Saturday acknowledged possible security lapses that allowed an assassin to fire his gun into former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe while he was addressing a campaign rally, raising questions how could the attacker get so close behind him.
Abe was shot in the western city of Nara on Friday and airlifted to a hospital but died of blood loss. Police arrested the attacker, a former member of Japan's navy, at the scene. Police confiscated his homemade gun and several others were later found at his apartment.
The attacker, Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators he acted because he believed rumors that Abe was connected to an organization that he resents, police said. Japanese media reported that the man had developed hatred toward a religious group that his mother was obsessed about and that caused his family financial problems. The reports did not specify the group. (AP)
The man who killed Shinzo Abe believed the former Japanese leader was linked to a religious group he blamed for his mother's financial ruin and spent months planning the attack with a homemade gun, police told local media on Saturday.
Tetsuya Yamagami, an unemployed 41-year-old, identified as the suspect on suspicion of murder on Friday after a man was seen in videos repeatedly shown on Japanese television calmly approaching Japan's longest-serving prime minister from behind and firing.
Wiry and bespectacled with shaggy hair, the suspect was seen stepping into the road behind Abe, who was standing on a riser at an intersection, before unloading two shots from a 40-cm-long (16-inch) weapon wrapped with black tape. He was tackled by police at the scene.
Yamagami was a loner who did not reply when spoken to, neighbours told Reuters. He believed Abe had promoted a religious group that his mother went bankrupt donating to, Kyodo news agency said, citing investigative sources. (Reuters)
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock on Saturday at the assassination of Shinzo Abe, saying the 'relational depth' between West Bengal and Japan was personified by the former prime minister.
Abe, 67, died after being shot while giving a campaign speech in Nara city in western Japan on Friday morning.
In a communication to Nakagawa Koichi, the consul general of Japan in Kolkata, Banerjee said West Bengal has excellent trade, industrial and cultural relations with Japan, and the "relational depth was personified by the much beloved leader Shinzo Abe". (PTI)
Pope Francis prays that Japan will strengthen its commitment to peace and nonviolence despite the “senseless” assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Vatican said on Saturday.
In a telegram, Francis said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the assassination and offered his condolences to Abe's family and the people of Japan.
The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, signed the telegram, which said of the pope: “In the wake of this senseless act, he prays that Japanese society will be strengthened in its historic commitment to peace and nonviolence.” Francis last met with Abe during a 2019 trip to Japan. He visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where two US atomic bombs were dropped in World War II, and declared the mere possession of nuclear weapons was “immoral”. (AP)
A motorcade carrying the body of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived at his home in the Japanese capital on Saturday, a day after he was assassinated by a lone gunman in a rare act of political violence that has shocked the country.
Mourners gathered at his residence and at the scene of Friday's attack in the western city of Nara, where Japan's longest-serving modern leader was gunned down while making a campaign speech, a murder decried by the political establishment as an attack on democracy itself. (Reuters)
Some observers who watched videos of the assassination on social media and television noted a lack of attention in the open space behind former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe as he spoke.
A former Kyoto prefectural police investigator, Fumikazu Higuchi, said the footage suggested security was sparse at the event and insufficient for a former prime minister. “It is necessary to investigate why security allowed Yamagami to freely move and go behind Mr. Abe,” Higuchi told a Nippon TV talk show.
Experts also said Abe was more vulnerable standing on the ground level, instead of atop a campaign vehicle, which reportedly could not be arranged because his visit to Nara was hastily planned the day before. (AP)
Shinzo Abe died due to loss of blood after a bullet hit an artery under his collarbone, Japanese media house NHK reported, citing police officials. They said that the bullet went through Abe's upper left arm and damaged a blood vessel under his collarbone. The former Japanese PM was shot at close range, the report added.
The suspect in Japan ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's shooting will be transferred to the prosecutor's office on Sunday morning, Nara police told news agency Reuters.
The body of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot dead in Nara city, was taken to his residence in the capital city of Tokyo.
The vehicle carrying Abe's body left the hospital at around 6 am local time (2.30 am IST) on Saturday and arrived at his home in Tokyo's Shibuya district at around 1.30 pm local time (10 am IST), said Japanese media house NHK. The body was released after an autopsy. Abe's wife Akie, former Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu were present at the hospital in Nara city, the report added.
The Indian flag is being flown on half-mast at Red Fort in New Delhi as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared July 9 as the day of mourning following the assassination of Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan is in mourning over the news of former PM Shinzo Abe's assassination. Embassies, government organisations and other state buildings are flying the state flag at half-mast as a sign of respect.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, died on Friday (July 8) after he was shot in Nara, Japan, by a 41-year-old man identified as Tetsuya Yamagami.
Few details were immediately available on Yamagami, but he was previously in the Japanese navy, known as the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF). Abe, Japan’s longest-serving PM, remained critical for a few hours after he was shot in his chest during a public event. This is the first time in around a hundred years that a sitting or former premier of Japan has been assassinated, according to a Reuters report.
The body of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returns to Tokyo after he was fatally shot during a speech Friday. (AP)
Authorities in Singapore have arrested a 45-year-old man for inciting violence by posting a comment on Facebook against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, media reports said on Saturday.
The threat was found in the comments section of web portal Channel News Asia’s Facebook page on a post regarding the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. After investigations, police were able to establish the identity of the Facebook user and was arrested, police said. A laptop, a tablet and four mobile phones were seized.