Guy broke through security and shot him with a makeshift shotgun.
Footage if you want to watch
https://mobile.twitter.com/admiral747/status/1545255324940222464
Guy broke through security and shot him with a makeshift shotgun.
Footage if you want to watch
https://mobile.twitter.com/admiral747/status/1545255324940222464
Shocking news. At least they were able to apprehend the guy right away.
No indication of anything other than the shooter acting alone, but given Abe's views on China (and Russia), Japanese intelligence is going to be sniffing hard for any signs of foreign involvement, even peripherally. Abe's appearance at the event was only confirmed yesterday, which makes the whole thing seem a bit surprising, given the use of an improvised weapon. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
02Pilot said:No indication of anything other than the shooter acting alone, but given Abe's views on China (and Russia), Japanese intelligence is going to be sniffing hard for any signs of foreign involvement, even peripherally. Abe's appearance at the event was only confirmed yesterday, which makes the whole thing seem a bit surprising, given the use of an improvised weapon. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
I don't think he has enough influence on Japanese politics anymore that assassinating him could be politically "worthwhile" in any way. An American analogy would be like someone assassinating Bush Jr (not at all in the way things have changed since their leadership, but more in the way that they made big changes but no longer have any meaningful influence).
I'm betting the person was most likely batE36 M3 insane (Jared Lee Loughner style), with the possibility of a homegrown political wingnut in a distant 2nd.
GameboyRMH said:02Pilot said:No indication of anything other than the shooter acting alone, but given Abe's views on China (and Russia), Japanese intelligence is going to be sniffing hard for any signs of foreign involvement, even peripherally. Abe's appearance at the event was only confirmed yesterday, which makes the whole thing seem a bit surprising, given the use of an improvised weapon. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
I don't think he has enough influence on Japanese politics anymore that assassinating him could be politically "worthwhile" in any way. An American analogy would be like someone assassinating Bush Jr.
He was still fairly high up in his party and I think I saw that this was him stumping for an upcoming election.
Japan is pretty conservative still, from looking around online, I think he had more pull than we might think
Mr_Asa said:GameboyRMH said:02Pilot said:No indication of anything other than the shooter acting alone, but given Abe's views on China (and Russia), Japanese intelligence is going to be sniffing hard for any signs of foreign involvement, even peripherally. Abe's appearance at the event was only confirmed yesterday, which makes the whole thing seem a bit surprising, given the use of an improvised weapon. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
I don't think he has enough influence on Japanese politics anymore that assassinating him could be politically "worthwhile" in any way. An American analogy would be like someone assassinating Bush Jr.
He was still fairly high up in his party and I think I saw that this was him stumping for an upcoming election.
Japan is pretty conservative still, from looking around online, I think he had more pull than we might think
Still, that would be like assassinating Bush Jr. during the Romney campaign. May have some effect, but not something a sane calculating enemy would do.
Edit: Although in fairness, NK's foreign operatives are known to be quite insane 
Abe's influence was significant. He left his office due to poor health (recurring ulcerative colitis), and was extremely close to the current leadership, acting as a well-respected advisor. He was probably more recognizable than any other Japanese politician at this point. Comparisons to the US system are difficult, as our former presidents rarely continue to actively participate in the way that Abe did.
The shooter was apparently a former sailor in the JMSDF. Explosives have been found at his residence. He is said to have expressed dissatisfaction with Abe's policies when questioned by police. I'm interested in hearing more about his military background and where he got the explosives.
Super sad. Regardless of politics, this was a man who was obviously of high importance to Japan. I always tell my kids that we, as a country, need the politicians to be safe, even if we don't like them.
This seems very random. While I am not a fan of focusing on high-profile murderers like this guy and the parade guy, I am genuinely curious what makes them tick and why they do things like this.
02Pilot said:Abe's influence was significant. He left his office due to poor health (recurring ulcerative colitis), and was extremely close to the current leadership, acting as a well-respected advisor. He was probably more recognizable than any other Japanese politician at this point. Comparisons to the US system are difficult, as our former presidents rarely continue to actively participate in the way that Abe did.
The shooter was apparently a former sailor in the JMSDF. Explosives have been found at his residence. He is said to have expressed dissatisfaction with Abe's policies when questioned by police. I'm interested in hearing more about his military background and where he got the explosives.
I was tempted to say a closer analogy would be Obama, just on the other side of the political spectrum.
Abe did a lot to get Japan to have an active military again. Wanted to get rid of the "Self-Defense" part of the JSDF. I'm not all that surprised that there were soldiers upset at him.
tuna55 said:This seems very random. While I am not a fan of focusing on high-profile murderers like this guy and the parade guy, I am genuinely curious what makes them tick and why they do things like this.
I don't think it was random at all. Abe was one of the most prominent members of the Nippon Kaigi organization which is considered a cult in some circles. They are factually far-right, ultraconservative, ultranationalist, and reactionary. He's had headaches before because of his documented association with literal neo-Nazis.
In keeping with forum rules I'm not here to debate the merits of his positions but he was extremely influential and also quite controversial, both nationally and in the broader APAC region (as 02Pilot noted, very hawkish views with regard to regional politics involving his neighbors in the Pacific).
Long story short, there is no shortage of reasons that Abe would have been a target in many different circles for many different reasons.
Yeah in a much simpler time, Shinzo Abe was my least favorite democratically-elected world leader for many of the aforementioned reasons. We were all so young then, so innocent...
I suppose an ideological opponent may feel like they had reason to assassinate him, but from a political standpoint it would still be very much a case of closing the barn doors after the horse has bolted. Abe had completely realigned the party with his own politics before leaving office and didn't have more than, say, Obama levels of personal clout.
I saw the video. I'm thinking homemade black powder because of all the smoke the shot produced. Firearm technology was about at the level of a crude early hand cannon.
FWIW, I just read this Bloomberg article that has some information about the killer's motives:
What has the suspect said?
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.
Of course it's impossible to say if this is just cover for a foreign hit job initiated by someone like China, but it sounds like Abe's heavy involvement with Nippon Kaigi was a core motivator.
As a non-native it's really hard to get a read on just how Nippon Kaigi is organized and how insidious its goals really are. I don't think any of us dwelling overseas will ever have the perspective required to really make that judgment. But it's clear they are really ruffling some feathers if Abe's influence in the organization made him a target.
This snippet about the group provides some interesting context. It basically sounds like they have a combination of positions that would ensure they are reviled by the full political spectrum of their regional neighbors as well as domestic left-wing groups. That makes it seem pretty plausible that Abe's assassination could be a foreign hit job disguised as one lone crazy left-wing Japanese person losing it.
Nippon Kaigi believes that "Japan should be applauded for liberating much of East Asia from Western colonial powers; that the 1946–1948 Tokyo War Crimes tribunals were illegitimate; and that killings by Imperial Japanese troops during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre were exaggerated or fabricated". The group vigorously defends Japan's claim in its territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands with China, and denies that Japan forced the "comfort women" during World War II. Nippon Kaigi is opposed to feminism, LGBT rights, and the 1999 Gender Equality Law.
Per the BBC:
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said his country was shocked by the attack.
He added that "this unexpected incident should not be associated with Sino-Japanese relations" and had no comment when asked about Chinese social media reaction.
Comments gloating over the attack on Mr Abe have dominated Chinese social media and have also surfaced on Korean platforms.
Knowing nothing really of Japanese politics or the popularity of revisionist/revanchist views among the Japanese people, I do have to wonder just how much of Nippon Kaigi's funding surreptitiously originates in Beijing....
In reply to jharry3 :
Found another from right after the shooting.
In reply to 02Pilot :
My understanding is the Nippon Kaigi is fairly anti-Chinese so I would be fairly surprised if the Chinese funded them.
In reply to 93EXCivic :
Certainly, all probability is that the Chinese have nothing to do with it. However, in the convoluted world of clandestine influence operations, the possibility of funding minority opposition groups in order to destabilize domestic politics and international relationships should not be dismissed out of hand. The fact that such an unwitting group might be in opposition to the surreptitious funding source simply makes the cover more effective.
In reply to 02Pilot :
Maybe but it seems a really silly move given one of their main goals is to rebuild the Japanese military and they had Abe-san in the position of Prime Minister
jharry3 said:I saw the video. I'm thinking homemade black powder because of all the smoke the shot produced. Firearm technology was about at the level of a crude early hand cannon.
Yeah, from what I read it was a home-made muzzle-loading smoothbore. That's basically a pipe, a cap, some black powder, and a battery-based ignition system.
Korean consulate at Fukuoka issued a warning to all Koreans in the area: Be careful about hate crimes against Koreans due to assassination of former PM, avoid dangerous areas.
I guess I won't be going to Japan for a while...
Police found additional weapons at perpetrator's house. Some sort of a remote-controlled gun? It seems to be connected to a phone.
In reply to karussell :
Where is the phone?
In reply to Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself :
The rectangular thing on the left, with white protective case(?). Another photo:
That looks like a cross section of rectangular box tubing, with long bolts coming through the top, secured with nuts.
I guess you are right. Phone on a homemade gun doesn't make much sense...
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