Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot in the city of Nara, Japan, on Friday. Local authorities said Abe was rushed to a hospital and appears to have no vital signs, according to local media reports.
Abe, 67, had been making a campaign speech at around 11 a.m. local time ahead of an election Sunday for the upper house of the Japanese Parliament when he was shot from behind, the Associated Press reported. An NHK reporter heard what sounded like two gunshots and saw Abe bleeding. He collapsed on a street while delivering a speech in the city in western Japan. Video showed security guards rushing to him and people attempting to provide medical assistance.
NHK reported Abe appeared to have been shot, possibly by a shotgun, in the chest and was put in an ambulance. He was later flown to Nara Medical University hospital, according to local reports. Abe was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest, authorities said, according to local reports. More than two hours after the incident, Abe’s exact condition remained unclear.
Authorities said a male suspect has been arrested at the scene for attempted murder. Tetsuya Yamagami, a Nara-area man in his 40s, has been identified as the suspected shooter. A firearm that appears to be a handmade shotgun was confiscated. Bystander video appeared to show a cloud of smoke when the shooting happened.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida headed back to Tokyo from Yamagata after canceling campaign events and is expected to be debriefed and deliver remarks on the situation, according to local media. Other officials were also returning to Tokyo.
“We are all saddened and shocked by the shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Abe-san has been an outstanding leader of Japan and unwavering ally of the U.S. The U.S. Government and American people are praying for the well-being of Abe-san, his family, & people of Japan,” said U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel in a tweet.
We are all saddened and shocked by the shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Abe-san has been an outstanding leader of Japan and unwavering ally of the U.S. The U.S. Government and American people are praying for the well-being of Abe-san, his family, & people of Japan.
— ラーム・エマニュエル駐日米国大使 (@USAmbJapan) July 8, 2022
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Japan is known to have some of the strictest gun control laws in the world and shootings are considered rare in the county. Gun deaths in the country are relatively uncommon and generally hover around a dozen each year. In 1932, Japanese Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was fatally shot while serving in office by junior navy officers during an attempted coup. In 1960, Inejiro Asanuma a leader in the Japanese Socialist Party, had also been slain by an assailant wielding a sword. The mayor of Nagasaki, Iccho Ito, was shot and killed in 2007.
Hard to overstate how unusual this shooting in Japan was. Yes, a PM was assassinated in 1932 and a party leader in 1960, but in a typical year fewer than 10 Japanese are murdered with guns.
In my five years in Japan, I covered murders, but never a shooting that I recall.— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) July 8, 2022
Abe is currently serving as a member of the House of Representatives, which is the upper chamber of the Japanese Parliament. He became prime minister of Japan in 2012 and served until 2020, finishing out as the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history. He cited poor health as a reason for his resignation.
A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, the ruling center-right party in Japan, Abe had assumed office as prime minister at a time when Japan’s economy had been mired by low growth and strong disinflationary headwinds.
To counter this, Abe championed a number of economic reforms such as monetary easing, heightened fiscal stimulus, and other reforms that have become known as Abenomics.
A vocal critic of China, Abe sought to strengthen ties with the United States and the West. He was regarded as a pioneer of the “free and open Indo-Pacific” concept that has since been integrated into the framework for the U.S. strategy for the region. The concept called for stronger coordination between countries with similar interests in the region. The goal was to appeal to smaller nations in the region that had been reluctant to choose a side in the rivalry between the U.S. and China.
Additionally, Abe was known for his efforts to bolster Japan’s defense capabilities, often leading the charge for increased defense spending. He also supported legislation that allowed Japan’s military to engage in conflicts abroad, departing from a policy of reserving military force for self-defense purposes.
His younger brother, Nobuo Kishi, is currently serving as the country’s minister of defense.
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Abe has sought to position Japan as a diplomatic heavyweight in Asia. He has been vocally supportive of Taiwan, calling on the U.S. to clarify it would intervene on Taiwan’s behalf if the island was attacked by China. When former President Donald Trump was seeking to ease relations with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, Abe had unsuccessfully sought a summit with the dictator to similarly mend relations.
“Absolutely devastating news that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, a truly great man and leader, has been shot, and is in very serious condition,” Trump said on Truth Social. “He was a true friend of mine and, much more importantly, America. This is a tremendous blow to the wonderful people of Japan, who loved and admired him so much. We are all praying for Shinzo and his beautiful family!”
Domestically, Abe stirred controversy with some of his nationalist takes on history, including denials that Japan had coerced “comfort women” from South Korea into sexual slavery. This has been a key pressure point in relations with South Korea, which deteriorated under his tenure. Both South Korea and Japan have been regarded as the top U.S. allies in Asia.
