Police arrested a 41-year-old man who they said approached Mr. Abe from behind as he gave a speech in the city of Nara and fired twice with what appeared to be an improvised firearm.
Mr. Abe, 67, was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, who during nearly eight years in office pursued policies aimed at strengthening the country’s military and restructuring the world’s third-largest economy to give markets freer rein.
Police identified the suspect as Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara. They said that during questioning, Mr. Yamagami told police he wanted to kill Mr. Abe but didn’t have a grudge against his political beliefs, according to public broadcaster NHK.
It couldn’t be learned if Mr. Yamagami had a lawyer.
Mr. Abe was shot while campaigning for the ruling party’s candidates in a national election of the upper house of the Diet, or parliament, on Sunday. Attacks on politicians, especially with guns, are rare in Japan due to tight gun-control laws.
“We have lost a great politician,” said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was mentored by Mr. Abe as he rose up through the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Mr. Kishida said campaigning for the election would continue.
“Free and fair elections, which are the basis of democracy, must be absolutely defended,” he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who developed a close friendship with Mr. Abe, declared a national day of mourning in India for Saturday. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Mr. Abe’s death devastating.
In Japan, Mr. Abe championed a more muscular military and wanted to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution, adopted when the country was occupied by U.S. forces after World War II, but he failed to win enough political support to do so while in power.
A nationalist, Mr. Abe said Japan shouldn’t need to keep apologizing for its past colonization of other Asian countries. He emphasized close ties to the U.S. and developed a friendship with former President Donald Trump, including by playing golf together.
Video footage showed officials pinning a man to the ground near Mr. Abe shortly after two loud bangs similar to those from fireworks rang out. Nearby, a device lay on the ground that looked like two metal pipes bound together with tape, video footage showed.
Political | Process 
Leave a comment