Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe shot dead at event in Nara

[Firehound427]

Former Japanese PM Abe Shinzo shot in Nara, man in his 40s arrested | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has been shot on the street in the western prefecture of Nara. Police arrested a man at the scene.

www3.nhk.or.jp

Shinzo Abe, the former Prime Minister of Japan, has been shot at a campaign event in Nara. He was making a speech in support of a candidate for an election at around 11:30 local time, when he was shot at close range. Police have arrested a man in his forties, reportedly a former member of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, and recovered a homemade double-barrel shotgun. Abe was taken to hospital in critical condition; NHK have reported that he was showing no vital signs, and ex-Tokyo governor Yoichi Masuzoe had tweeted that Abe is in “cardiopulmonary arrest,” a term used in Japan before death is officially confirmed.

There appears to be footage of the moment of shooting circulating online. Out of respect for site’s policies, I will not be sharing it here.

Shinzo Abe is now confirmed to have died in the hospital. May he rest in peace.

Former Japanese PM Abe Shinzo confirmed dead | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Japan's Liberal Democratic Party officials say former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has died. Abe was shot during a speech Friday in the western city of Nara.

www3.nhk.or.jp

 

[GTboyz]

Confirmed dead by NHK.

RIP.

 

[SestoScudo]

Condolences to his family and to the people of Japan.

Really sad event.

 

[Liquid]

Very surprising news to wake up to. I didn't have assassination of a former Japanese Prime Minister anywhere near my 2022 bingo.

 

[Sprite]

Huge shock. They also found explosives apparently at the attackers apartment.

Not what you expect to see in Japan.

 

[O604]

Shocking and crazy. Makes me wonder if there has ever been a shooting before in Nara. I'm thinking not.

This could shake Japan quite a bit if reports are true and this is a homemade device.

 

[Keef]

Pretty wild news to wake up to. I'm not very familiar with Japanese politics but I rarely heard any bad news about Abe. I'm not really sure what would inspire anybody to take this action, especially relative to American politics where tensions are extremely high surrounding numerous politics former and current. I really can't explain why somebody would be motivated to do this.

 

[Blitz24]

Pretty wild news to wake up to. I'm not very familiar with Japanese politics but I rarely heard any bad news about Abe. I'm not really sure what would inspire anybody to take this action, especially relative to American politics where tensions are extremely high surrounding numerous politics former and current. I really can't explain why somebody would be motivated to do this.

From what I've read, Abe was very right wing for Japan and he wanted to push the country out of the pacifist style they have used since WWII.

 

[JKgo]

From what I've read, Abe was very right wing for Japan and he wanted to push the country out of the pacifist style they have used since WWII.

🤔 I've read far worse about him (and his party in general), but I shouldn't be speaking ill of the dead.

 

[Liquid]

From what I've read, Abe was very right wing for Japan and he wanted to push the country out of the pacifist style they have used since WWII.

🤔 I've read far worse about him (and his party in general), but I shouldn't be speaking ill of the dead.

I believe he was the most high-profile politician to partake in historical negationism with regards to the Japanese Empire during WW2. I have no idea if that influenced someone assassinating him though.

 

[Imari]

I believe he was the most high-profile politician to partake in historical negationism with regards to the Japanese Empire during WW2. I have no idea if that influenced someone assassinating him though.

Yeah. It's not shocking that there were people who vehemently disagreed with some of his stances. He was strongly nationalist and revisionist of some of the nastier parts of Japan's recent history. He had a very specific direction he wanted to take the country in that a lot of people disagreed with.

It is shocking that a high profile ex-Prime Minister would be assassinated in broad daylight with a firearm, even a homemade one.

While this is terrible news in and of itself, I fear the inevitable copycat attacks on other world leaders.

 

[PeterJB]

The guy who shot him reportedly saud he was "dissatisfied" with his leadership, which by Japanese standards is about as cutthroat as you can get.

 

[Keef]

From what I've read, Abe was very right wing for Japan and he wanted to push the country out of the pacifist style they have used since WWII.

That...sounds like a good idea and is exactly what the current government is being forced to do by China.

 

[Imari]

That...sounds like a good idea and is exactly what the current government is being forced to do by China.

They have a very strong defensive military presence and agreements with basically every major Western power. They're still generally in the top ten for military spending. It would require a constitutional amendment for them to "use force to settle international disputes".

Why do they need an aggressive military? What would they do with it? Attack China?

 

[O604]

Important to keep in mind he was a former Prime Minister at the time. There have been 2 Prime Ministers since Abe stepped down.


From Bloomberg

Yamagami told police he held a grudge against a "certain group," and that he intended to kill Abe because he believed Abe had ties to that group. Separately, NHK reported that the suspect claimed not to have attacked the former PM over his political beliefs. The Mainichi newspaper characterized the target of the suspect's enmity as a religious group, and also claimed he was aiming at a religious leader who wasn’t attending the rally, adding to the confusion.

 

[Keef]

Why do they need an aggressive military? What would they do with it? Attack China?

Defending against China is a bigger job than anyone seems to want to admit. To effectively defend against China's vast numbers, a country will indeed need a military big enough to "attack" China. Unfortunately escalation leads to more escalation but China is forcing everyone's hand.

Anyways, as for this religious thing. What the heck religious sect could the attacker be referencing? Is there some weird elitist cult in Japan that I'm not aware of?

 

[MIE1992]

Defending against China is a bigger job than anyone seems to want to admit. To effectively defend against China's vast numbers, a country will indeed need a military big enough to "attack" China. Unfortunately escalation leads to more escalation but China is forcing everyone's hand.

Anyways, as for this religious thing. What the heck religious sect could the attacker be referencing? Is there some weird elitist cult in Japan that I'm not aware of?

Maybe Aum Shinrikyo? They were the ones behind that nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways in '95.

Alternatively, he could be a Judeophobe.

 

[Imari]

Defending against China is a bigger job than anyone seems to want to admit. To effectively defend against China's vast numbers, a country will indeed need a military big enough to "attack" China. Unfortunately escalation leads to more escalation but China is forcing everyone's hand.

What sort of backwards American militaristic doublespeak is this? Effectively defending requires attacking? Come on, man. That's the sort of BS that led to Iraq and Afghanistan, because they were such big threats that they had to be dealt with aggressively.

That didn't work so great for everyone who wasn't a shareholder in a major military contractor.

As I already pointed out, Japan has a very significant military that is as capable as any of defending Japan. Along with many allies, including the one with a big enough military to probably take on everyone else combined. And which has several large and well established military bases in the country.

What would Japan gain by attacking China instead of letting China come to them? How is China "forcing" everyone's hand, other than people who are scared that someone else might challenge the American role as the world police?

 

[O604]

How is China "forcing" everyone's hand, other than people who are scared that someone else might challenge the American role as the world police?

Tibet. Taiwan. Hong Kong. Support of North Korea. And Russia.

Neighbours have good reason to be worried. Russia wants islands from Japan. Korea constantly worries about the North. And Taiwan and Hong Kong were seen as friendly gateways into Chinese markets by everyone else.

 

[CodeRedR51]

His guns (top) look like something out of Cyber Punk (bottom)

 

[Rage Racer]

Russia wants islands from Japan

Russia wants islands from Japan?

Russia already owns the Kuril islands since 1945 but Japan wants them back (the four southmost ones, to be precise). That's the dispute because of which RF and Japan still don't have a peace treaty after the WW2.

 

[Carbonox]

While this is terrible news in and of itself, I fear the inevitable copycat attacks on other world leaders.

Except for if it's a bloated bear rider or a Winnie the Pooh lookalike.

 

[Omnis]

Totally unbelievable that he just walked up and fired the gun, then kept walking closer for 2-3 seconds before firing the fatal shot. NHK actually shows video of the approach before the fatal shot occurs. In a decent security detail, this kid would have been shot dead immediately upon drawing his weapon. To me, this sounds like a suicide, but an "I'll kill the prime minister before I die" kind of plan.

Again, I am absolutely shocked by this.

 

[Liquid]

Just to repeat, and it is just my own speculation, but a lot of dissatisfaction with Shinzo Abe has been and could be on his negationism of Japan's imperial past and the horrors it committed rather than his vision of Japan's military future.

 

[Touring Mars]

The BBC are reporting that the killer did not have a political agenda and 'intended to kill a religious leader', so it doesn't sound like it was a targeted assassination as such.

Shocking and sad news nevertheless, though if it was indeed simply 'opportunistic' and that Abe wasn't even targeted specifically, it makes it all the more sad and senseless.

 

[Liquid]

The BBC are reporting that the killer did not have a political agenda and 'intended to kill a religious leader', so it doesn't sound like it was a targeted assassination as such.

Wouldn't that mean he should have assassinated the Emperor? The Emperor is traditionally held to be the kami of Shinto.

 

[Exorcet]

They have a very strong defensive military presence and agreements with basically every major Western power. They're still generally in the top ten for military spending. It would require a constitutional amendment for them to "use force to settle international disputes".

Why do they need an aggressive military? What would they do with it? Attack China?

I've had passing thoughts on article 9 and at the very least I feel that it's kind of unnecessary at this point. Japan today is not the Japan of WWII and I don't really see them spontaneously reverting to an empire (but hey I didn't predict that the US would start down the path of destroying itself this decade either). That said, it's hard to be upset with legal measures that are designed to reduce the chances of war and that should hopefully prevent misuse of the military.

In short I feel that Japan is a trustworthy nation and given the generation gap from the Japanese empire, there isn't really a need to be "punished" for WWII anymore. The commitment to peace/non-aggression is good, but that should be a default part of every legitimate military on the planet.

 

[Keef]

What sort of backwards American militaristic doublespeak is this? Effectively defending requires attacking? Come on, man. That's the sort of BS that led to Iraq and Afghanistan, because they were such big threats that they had to be dealt with aggressively.

That didn't work so great for everyone who wasn't a shareholder in a major military contractor.

As I already pointed out, Japan has a very significant military that is as capable as any of defending Japan. Along with many allies, including the one with a big enough military to probably take on everyone else combined. And which has several large and well established military bases in the country.

What would Japan gain by attacking China instead of letting China come to them? How is China "forcing" everyone's hand, other than people who are scared that someone else might challenge the American role as the world police?

Effectively defending doesn't necessarily require attacking although strategically that will be a necessity, see Ukraine tactics. But it does require the ability to attack. Especially against a military of such massive numbers and virtually unlimited production resources that China has. Pure "defense" simply won't work because China has the numbers to exhaust anybody else's resources in a war of attrition, whether that be economic (which they're doing), political (which they're doing), or physical war, which we all pray to god they don't try to do. China has a military equipment production rate multiple times higher than the US, even if the US went WW2-style total-war production capacity.

You're in Australia which has taken an effectively pacifist approach toward China, tying economic knots with China, and turning a blind eye toward the threats that China imposes and their belligerent actions. The stability created by Western nations, particular the UK and US, are what has lead to Australia's success but China doesn't do things that way. China wants to actively reverse Western domination economically and militarily.

Russia wants islands from Japan?

Russia already owns the Kuril islands since 1945 but Japan wants them back (the four southmost ones, to be precise). That's the dispute because of which RF and Japan still don't have a peace treaty after the WW2.

You're right, it's a dispute, which means Russia may or may not "own" those islands. They do control them, but that control and ownership is disputed. And it's pretty complicated lol.

 

[O604]

I feel like Japan was generally OK with the US having their back until recently. It was effective and cheaper. Japan - US relations are pretty much the best in the world, if all countries got along like Japan and the US there would be peace. Kind of ironic or maybe that's how it works.

But recent events have shown a change in a government can have major effects on international diplomacy now. China's aggression on Hong Kong intesified as the UK focused on Brexit. Aggression on Taiwan intesified when the US too focused more on domestic matters.

So countries in Asia have good reason to be nervous and less likely to rely on other governments consistently as in the past. I think it's more of a public sentiment than it all being on one person.

 

[Touring Mars]

Shinzo Abe killing: ‘Moonies’ church confirms suspect’s mother is member

Tetsuya Yamagami’s mother attends meetings, says Unification church, after he told investigators of grudge

www.theguardian.com

Apparently the suspect did target Shinzo Abe because he had shown support in the past for the Unification Church (aka The Moonies) with whom the suspect held a serious grudge and wanted to assassinate their leader.