In mostly gun-free nation, Japanese stunned by Abe killing
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[July 08, 2022]
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan struggled with
shock and sadness on Friday, trying to come to terms with the
assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a nation where
firearms are strictly regulated and political violence extremely rare.
Abe was shot while giving a campaign speech on a street corner and taken
to hospital by helicopter. His death was announced late on Friday.
From Abe protege Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to ordinary people on
social media, there was an outpouring of grief in a nation where
political violence is so rare the last time a former or sitting prime
minister was killed was nearly 90 years ago.
"I am incredibly shocked," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told a regular
news conference before Abe's death was announced, fighting back tears
and sniffling audibly. "No matter the reason, such a heinous act is
absolutely unforgivable. It is an affront against democracy."
Koki Tanaka, a 26-year-old IT worker in downtown Tokyo, voiced a similar
view: "I was simply astonished that this could happen in Japan."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jul/08/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
Japan's gun-ownership restrictions do not allow private citizens to have
handguns, and licensed hunters may own only rifles. Gun owners must
attend classes, pass a written test and undergo a mental health
evaluation and a background check.
Shootings, when they occur, typically involve "yakuza" gangsters using
illegal weapons. In 2021, there were 10 shooting incidents, eight
involving gangsters, according to police data. One person was killed and
four wounded.
Japan has had mass killings, but they usually have
not involved guns.
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![](../images/070822PIX/news_n79.jpg)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waits for U.S. President Barack
Obama to arrive for their meeting at the G20 Summit in St.
Petersburg September 5, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jul/08/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_052922.png)
In 2016, 19 residents of a facility for mentally disabled people
were murdered in their beds by a knife-wielding assailant, while in
2019 34 people were killed in an arson attack on an animation
studio.
Attacks on politicians, though, are unusual. There have been only a
handful in the last half century, most notably in 2007 when the
mayor of Nagasaki was shot and killed by a gangster - an incident
that resulted in still further tightening of gun regulations.
The last time a former prime minister was killed was in 1936 during
Japan's pre-war militaristic buildup, one of a series of similar
assassinations.
The man arrested for allegedly shooting Abe is a former member of
the Japanese military who fired a homemade firearm, according to
media reports. Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, Abe's brother, declined
to comment on those reports.
Responses to the shooting flooded social media, with "Abe-san" the
top-trending topic on Japanese Twitter by afternoon.
"I can't stop shaking. This is the end of peaceful Japan," wrote
Twitter user Nonochi.
"There's plenty of politicians I'd like to see disappear, but
assassination is inconceivable. It's the beginning of the end of
democracy."
(Additional reporting by Sakura Murakami and Kohei Miyazaki; Writing
by Elaine Lies; Editing by William Mallard)
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