Tetsuya Yamagami, bottom, is detained near the site of gunshots in Nara Prefecture, western Japan. Photo / AP
The assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has shocked a world that has come to associate Japan with relatively low crime and strict gun control.
Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Abe was shot in the back while campaigning in the city of Nara for parliamentary candidates. He died at a hospital, two days before the election.
The 67-year-old Abe, who was Japan's longest-serving leader when he resigned in 2020, collapsed bleeding and was airlifted to a nearby hospital in Nara, although he was not breathing and his heart had stopped.
He was later pronounced dead after receiving massive blood transfusions, officials said.
Nara Medical University emergency department chief Hidetada Fukushima said Abe suffered major damage to his heart, along with two neck wounds that damaged an artery. He never regained his vital signs, Fukushima said.
Police at the shooting scene arrested Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, a former member of Japan's navy, on suspicion of murder.
The suspect apparently circumvented the nation's ultra-tight gun regulations by building his own weapon.
Police said the 40cm device was obviously homemade, and one expert compared it with a muzzle-loading gun.
Authorities confiscated similar weapons when they raided the suspect's nearby one-room apartment.
In a press briefing, police said Yamagami was held for questioning at Nara Nishi police station and had confessed to shooting the former prime minister with a homemade weapon.
The unemployed suspect told police that he believed Abe was linked to a "specific organisation" which Yamagami had a grudge against.
The police would not reveal the name of the organisation.
While details of the suspect's motives remain limited, local media outlets reported Yamagami told police he was "dissatisfied with former Prime Minister Abe and aimed to kill him".
He is also reported to have told officers that he did not hold a "grudge against the former Prime Minister's political beliefs".
Dramatic video from broadcaster NHK showed Abe standing and giving a speech outside a train station ahead of Sunday's parliamentary election.
As he raised his fist to make a point, two gunshots rang out, and he collapsed holding his chest, his shirt smeared with blood as security guards run toward him.
Guards then leapt onto the gunman, who was face down on the pavement, and a double-barrelled weapon was seen nearby.
The motive of the man, who was taken into custody at the scene, remained unclear.
Fatal gun violence is virtually unheard of in Japan, and most Japanese go through life without ever handling, or even seeing, a real gun. Stabbings are more common than killings.
Major universities have rifle clubs, and Japanese police are armed, but gun ownership rights have been a distant issue for decades. Even police rarely resort to firing their pistols.
With a population of 125 million, the country had just 10 gun-related criminal cases last year, resulting in a single death and four injuries, according to police. Eight of those cases were gang-related.
The densely populated capital of Tokyo had zero gun incidents, injuries or deaths during that same year, although 61 guns were seized there.
"Japanese people are in a state of shock," said Shiro Kawamoto, professor at the College of Risk Management at Nihon University in Tokyo.
"This serves as a wake-up call that gun violence can happen in Japan, and security to protect Japanese politicians must be re-examined," Kawamoto said.
"To assume this kind of attack will never happen would be a big mistake."
Abe's security team may face serious questions. But because such attacks are extraordinary in Japan, relatively light security is the norm, even for former prime ministers.
The last high-profile shooting occurred in 2019, when a former gang member was shot at a karaoke venue in Tokyo.
Under Japanese law, possession of firearms is illegal without a special license. Importing them is also illegal. The same rules apply to some kinds of knives and certain other weapons, like crossbows.
People who wish to own firearms must go through a stringent background check, including clearance by a doctor and declare information about family members. They must also pass tests to show they know how to use guns correctly. Those who pass and purchase a weapon must also buy a special locking system for it at the same time.
Passing those hurdles will allow a license holder to shoot at clay targets. Hunting requires an additional license.
The weapon used in the attack on Abe was probably a "craft-made" firearm, according to NR Jenzen-Jones, the director of Armament Research Services, a specialist arms investigations firm.
He compared the weapon with a musket in which the gunpowder is loaded separately from the bullet.
"Firearms legislation in Japan is very restrictive, so I think what we're seeing here, with what's probably a muzzle-loading weapon, is not just an attempt to circumvent the control of firearms, but also the strict control of ammunition in Japan," he said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Cabinet ministers hastily returned to Tokyo from campaign events elsewhere after the shooting, which he called "dastardly and barbaric".
He pledged the election, which chooses members for Japan's less-powerful upper house of parliament, would go on as planned.
"I use the harshest words to condemn (the act)," Kishida said, struggling to control his emotions.
He said the government would review the security situation, but added that Abe had the highest protection.
Even though he was out of office, Abe was still highly influential in the governing Liberal Democratic Party and headed its largest faction, Seiwakai, but his ultra-nationalist views made him a divisive figure to many.
Opposition leaders condemned the attack as a challenge to Japan's democracy. Kenta Izumi, head of the top opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, called it "an act of terrorism" and said it "tried to quash the freedom of speech ... actually causing a situation where (Abe's) speech can never be heard again."
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was "absolutely devastated" to see the news about Abe.
"Shinzo Abe was one of the first world leaders I met when I became Prime Minister. He was always focused and thoughtful, but also generous. I remember after our first bilateral meeting as we were waiting for an official photo he leaned over to tell me he was sorry that my cat had passed away.
"In the meetings we had over the years, I saw a statesman, someone who helped usher through complex negotiations like the CPTPP, but also someone who was thoughtful and kind. The longest serving Prime Minister of Japan, whose loss will be deeply felt by so many- our thoughts and aroha are with you all."
And Sir John Key said: "It is with great sadness that I learned of former PM Abe's death. Over his time as PM I worked closely with PM Abe on a variety of issues including TPP. I always found him to be engaging thoughtful and a good friend of NZ."
Key was PM when Abe became PM of Japan in 2012.
Former PM Helen Clark said Abe was a "towering figure" in Japanese politics.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said in a statement: "It is with great sorrow that we have learnt of the passing of the former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.
"Shinzo Abe was Japan's longest serving Prime Minister and his presence and influence was critically important to Japan's leadership on the international stage, particularly on issues such as the CPTPPA and the indo-pacific concept. He established very meaningful and warm relationships with many nations and in doing so gave Japan a heightened presence and importance.
"Our sincere condolences go to his wife Akie, his family, and indeed the entire Japanese nation."
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also offered his thoughts to Abe's family and the people of Japan.
"Shocking news from Japan that former PM Shinzo Abe has been shot - our thoughts are with his family and the people of Japan at this time," he tweeted.
In Tokyo, people stopped to buy extra editions of newspapers or watch TV coverage of the shooting. Flowers were placed at the shooting scene in Nara.
When he resigned as prime minister, Abe blamed a recurrence of the ulcerative colitis he'd had since he was a teenager. He said then it was difficult to leave many of his goals unfinished, especially his failure to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted years ago by North Korea, a territorial dispute with Russia, and a revision of Japan's war-renouncing constitution.
That ultra-nationalism riled the Koreas and China, and his push to create what he saw as a more normal defence posture angered many Japanese. Abe failed to achieve his cherished goal of formally rewriting the US-drafted pacifist constitution because of poor public support.
Loyalists said his legacy was a stronger US-Japan relationship that was meant to bolster Japan's defence capability. But Abe made enemies by forcing his defence goals and other contentious issues through parliament, despite strong public opposition.
Abe was groomed to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. His political rhetoric often focused on making Japan a "normal" and "beautiful" nation with a stronger military and bigger role in international affairs.
Tributes to Abe poured in from world leaders, with many expressing shock and sorrow. US President Joe Biden praised him, saying "his vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific will endure. Above all, he cared deeply about the Japanese people and dedicated his life to their service".
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose tenure from 2005-21 largely overlapped with Abe's, said she was devastated by the "cowardly and vile assassination". Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared Saturday a day of national mourning for Abe, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted that he would remember him for "his collegiality & commitment to multilateralism".
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian declined to comment, other than to say Beijing offered sympathies to Abe's family and that the shooting shouldn't be linked to bilateral relations. But social media posts from the country were harsh, with some calling the gunman a "hero" — reflecting strong sentiment against right-wing Japanese politicians who question or deny that Japan's military committed wartime atrocities in China.
Biden, who is dealing with summer of mass shootings in the US, also said "gun violence always leaves a deep scar on the communities that are affected by it".
Abe was proud of his work to strengthen Japan's security alliance with the US and shepherding the first visit by a serving US president, Barack Obama, to the atom-bombed city of Hiroshima. He also helped Tokyo gain the right to host the 2020 Olympics by pledging that a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant was "under control" when it was not.
He became Japan's youngest prime minister in 2006, at age 52, but his overly nationalistic first stint abruptly ended a year later, also because of his health.
The end of Abe's scandal-laden first stint as prime minister was the beginning of six years of annual leadership change, remembered as an era of "revolving door" politics that lacked stability.
Additional reporting: news.com
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