Shinzo Abe Assassinated: What Shinzo Abe Has Countributed to Japan's Political Progress?

Shinzo Abe died after being shot during a speech near Yamato-Saidaiji station, Nara city, Japan on Friday, July 8, 2022 at 11:30 local time. At the time, a single shot was fired from behind Abe and the shot created a puff of smoke.

 Shinzo Abe then turned to look over his left shoulder. Soon a second shot followed accompanied by another puff of smoke. Holding his chest, Shinzo Abe then fell to the ground, motionless, and bleeding. According to information explained by the Nara Police, the second shot caused two wounds in the neck and this made the police wonder about what type of weapon and ammunition was used by the perpetrator (Putri, 2022) (Hee Lee & Inuma, 2022).

The cause of Shinzo Abe's death as stated by the Head of the Emergency Center at Nara Medical University Hospital, Hiteda Fukushima explained that Abe showed no vital signs when he arrived at this hospital at 12:20 local time. 

According to Fukushima, Abe suffered major damage to his heart along with two neck wounds that damaged his arteries. Despite this, the hospital is still making strenuous efforts to save Shinzo Abe, including conducting massive blood transfusions. It was due to this massive blood loss that Shinzo Abe was pronounced dead less than five hours later from the time of his shooting. Shinzo Abe died at 17:03 local time (Putri, 2022) (Yamaguchi, Tanaka, & Klug, 2022).

Then who was the perpetrator who shot Shinzo Abe during a speech? The shooter is a 41-year-old man named Tetsuya Yamagami who lives in Nara, Japan. He was arrested shortly after the shooting incident occurred, security officers managed to arrest the shooter at the scene. According to Japanese Defense officials, Yamagami is a former member of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or Japan Self-Defense Navy. 

He joined the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force troops for three years. He confessed and said that the motive for shooting Shinzo Abe was because he believed that Shinzo Abe belonged to a group he hated. However, the police refused to explain which group Tetsuya Yamagami was referring to. 

From Yamagami's arrest, it was found that the gun he used was homemade, with a gun length of 15 inches or 40 cm. Police also confiscated several weapons that he assembled himself and a personal computer in Yamagami's apartment (Putri, 2022).

Source: Kyodo News via AP

So who exactly was Shinzo Abe until he was shot to death? And what influence did Shinzo Abe have on Japanese politics?

Shinzo Abe is the longest serving former Prime Minister of Japan. Shinzo Abe served twice as Prime Minister of Japan, namely from 2006 to 2007, and secondly from 2012 to 2020. Shinzo Abe was born on September 21, 1954, Tokyo, Japan. Shinzo Abe is a member of a prominent political family. His grandfather Nobusuke Kishi served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960, and his great uncle Eisaku Sato held the same post from 1964 to 1972.