FACTBOX-Major episodes of violence against politicians in Japan
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July 8 (Reuters) – Former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe, one of Japan’s most influential politicians in modern times, died on Friday after being shot at a campaign event.
The man who is suspected to have shot Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been identified by Japanese media as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara city.
He is reported to be a former member of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force, the country’s navy, but the defence ministry has not officially confirmed this.
Security police tackle a suspect who is believed to have shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara, Japan, 08 July 2022. The suspect identified as Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested and taken into custody. EPA-EFE/The Asahi Shimbun
Japanese broadcaster NHK reports Yamagami as telling police he was “dissatisfied with Abe and wanted to kill him”.
The suspect is now in police custody. Eyewitnesses said they saw a man carrying what they described as a large gun and firing twice at Abe from behind.
Photographs taken as the suspect was being apprehended show what looks like an improvised weapon.
It is unclear how the shooter came to know about Abe’s attendance at the campaign in advance, as the visit was only confirmed late last night.
The shooting of Abe has prompted shock and condemnation both in Japan and overseas.
Fatal attacks on national figures have been rare in Japan’s post-war history.
epa10058732 Police investigate the crime scene, where Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot during an Upper House election campaign, outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station of Kintetsu Railway in Nara, western Japan, 08 July 2022. EPA-EFE/JIJI PRESS
Below is a list of some of them:
In 1960, Nobusuke Kishi, then-prime minister and Abe’s maternal grandfather, was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant affiliated with right-wing groups. The assailant’s motivation was not clear. Kishi survived because the blade missed major arteries.
The same year, Japan Socialist Party leader Inejiro Asanuma was stabbed to death at a political rally by a right-wing youth.
In 1990, former labour minister Hyosuke Niwa died of wounds inflicted by a deranged man, and then Nagasaki city major Hitoshi Motoshima was seriously injured after being shot by a right-winger.
Another Nagasaki mayor Iccho Itoh was shot and killed in 2007 by a member of an organised crime group.
In 1992, a right-wing gunman fired shots at the Liberal Democratic Party’s then vice president Shin Kanemaru when he was wrapping up a speech. Kanemaru was uninjured.
In 1994, there was an attempted shooting of then prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa by a right-wing extremist, but Hosokawa was unharmed.
In 1996, Yoshiro Yanagawa, outspoken mayor of a small town Mitake was attacked at home and seriously injured. Police suspected organised crime in the bludgeoning of Yanagawa.
In 2002, Democratic Party MP Kouki Ishiii was stabbed in front of his house by a right-wing group representative and died.
The office and home of Koichi Kato, former secretary-general of Liberal Democratic Party were set on fire and burned down in 2006.
