Shinzo Abe, Japan’s most storied former prime minister, was assassinated on Friday in Japan’s old capital city of Nara. He had been speaking on behalf of one of the members of his political party, when a man from the crowd shot him in the neck with a homemade gun. He was rushed to a hospital and died six hours later at the age of 67.
Police apprehended 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami at the scene; he is charged with murder. Officials said he made the gun and that he has confessed to intending to kill Abe because the former prime minister had political views he disagreed with. Several more homemade weapons were said to be found in the man’s apartment.
President Trump, on Truth Social, wrote it’s “really BAD NEWS FOR THE WORLD! His killer was captured and will hopefully be dealt with swiftly and harshly.” Trump, who will be visiting Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday, described Abe as “a unifier like no other” who loved his “magnificent country.”
“Shinzo Abe will be greatly missed. There will never be another like him,” Trump said.
Abe was the longest serving prime minister in Japan since World War II and had met with President Donald Trump on many occasions. In fact, he was the first world leader to meet with Trump after the Republican president was elected in 2016. It was at a time when many world leaders were reluctant to meet with the new president. Abe visited Mar-A-Lago on several occasions.
Mainstream media had its own take, calling him “divisive”: “Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a divisive arch-conservative and one of his nation’s most powerful and influential figures, has died after being shot during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan, hospital officials said,” NPR wrote on Twitter, later deleting the characterization.
Gun violence is rare in Japan. Other than police and the military, no one in Japan may buy any type of firearm. Hunters and target shooters may own shotguns and airguns under strictly enforced conditions, including extensive background checks, required safety checks, and police surprise visits.
“The police check gun licensees’ ammunition inventory to make sure there are no shells or pellets unaccounted for. A prospective gun owner must take an official safety course and then pass a test that covers maintenance and inspection of the gun, methods of loading and unloading, shooting from various positions, and target practice for stationary and moving objects. The license is valid for 3 years. When not in actual use, all guns must be in a locked space. So comprehensive are the gun laws that even possession of a starter’s pistol is allowed only under carefully prescribed conditions. The Japanese crime rate is low. Handguns were used in 209 crimes in 1985. About two-thirds of all gun crimes are committed by organized crime groups. The citizens apparently voluntarily comply with the gun law; accordingly, there is no mandatory minimum penalty for unlicensed firearm possession. Pressure to conform and internalized willingness to do so are much stronger in Japan than in America. The spirit of conformity provides the best explanation for Japan’s low crime rate. It also explains why the Japanese people accept strict gun control. A gun ban in America similar to that in Japan would be alien to our society, which for over 300 years has had the world’s strongest gun culture. Japan’s gun laws are part of an authoritarian philosophy of government that is fundamentally at odds with America’s traditions of liberty,” according to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice, published in 1992.
Japan is a beautiful, and extraordinary nation. Our absolute condolences go to the family of Abe- san, and the people of Japan.
As for the venial, and disgusting reporting of NPR, if they had any decency they would apologize. NPR has fallen so far over the last 40 years that any semblance of balance and competent news reporting is long gone. The entire management team should be replaced- and NPR deserves zero public (state of federal) funding.
“Gun violence is rare in Japan.”
Stop using this term. It’s nonsense. There is no such thing as “gun violence.” There is only violence, committed by people. The gun is a tool, an inanimate object. It has no motivation or intent; an action requires an actor, which is always a person.
Animal, admonishing those who use the term “gun violence” will only prompt them to double down. They use the term to advance their ideology. They know what they are doing.
In the end times the devil will appear to be winning, and the devil needs to drag all the people of earth away with, he has lost it’s his last shot on earth for all the marbles. The meek and Dos evil and mad bad will have there award soon. Earth will be restored to what GOD had intended and the righteous will play on it. And president trump will be president. Trump rally eve ALL Suzanne team trump, evil your doomed ha ha dems oath breakers this is all on you. So help you GOD, your name is listed in the book of oath breakers on GODs desk. Trump rally eve.
Unintelligible word salad. OI have you been drinking, or is it just the Rapture of Trump causing you to speak in tongues?
“Unintelligible word salad………”
Singula verba intellexi. Forsitan tu iustus est in tenebris?
Now, if Shinzo Abe had only been campaigning in a “Gun-Free Zone”, this would never have happened.
And if he had been a spectator at a certain 2022 Fourth of July parade in Chicago, MRAK wouldn’t have even reported it. Go figure.
2021 number of firearm-related deaths:
Japan – 10
USA – Over 40,000
2021 number of guns in circulation:
Japan – 192,000
USA – 400,000,000 +/1
The guns are the problem. Face up to it. Repeal the Second Amendment.
Whidbey the Cur, may your chains of self-chosen servile slavery to statist tyrants rest heavily upon you.
So nice to hear from you again, Jefferson. Sorry to see that the paranoia hasn’t relented, though.
“……Repeal the Second Amendment…….”
Give it your best shot, Revolutionary. Without guns yourself, I’ll be fascinated to see just how you think you’re going to pull that off……..
Well, we’ll pull it off by educating the young about the dangers of guns, just as we did with cigarettes. In the same manner they will eventually disappear from public life, and those who cherish them will be forced to stand out in the rain.
The children of Sandy Hook, MSD, and Uvalde will finally have their revenge.
Dog, Statics do not lie, but liars like you use statistics. Your use of Firearm related Deaths is an example of this. Surely you are aware that any gun used in a suicide is recorded as a fire arm related death in the U.S. Obviously Firearms are rare in Japan while Trains and Train Tracks are ubiquitous. Japanese Men for example commit suicide by jumping from trains and or laying on the tracks more often than not vs American Men who simply pull the trigger. Extrapolating the rate of suicide between each nation, (Japan has a slightly higher rate vs US) we find that some 18,000 Japanese sadly take their lives each year while here in the US the number is closer to 40,000, (US Population is roughly 3 x that of Japan). So given the above and realizing that a gun is often the method of choice employed in the U.S. by people committing suicide it’s not surprising that we have a high number of gun related deaths vs what one finds in Japan. What is surprising however is that I’ve not heard anything from you about outlawing Trains!
But then Dawg, being the good little Bolschvik that you are it’s really about destroying the Constitution of these United States and striping Americans of their GOD given rights, isn’t it?
oh, BTW… 400,000,000 guns in the hands of free people and such little gun violence? Put the pipe down Dawg and ponder that one.
Oosik, it’s sad that the only thing you can apparently find to love in life is a gun.
Whitney, it’s sad that you are unable to debate an issue based upon the facts in question. Following Lenin’s instructions and knowing your arguments are baseless you resort to a personal attacks upon your debate opponents. Nice trick, it probably works on the room temperature IQ crowd.
I love life, I value all life and I respect the rule of law. Heck, I would even go to the mat to defend your right to spout off your misguided opinions. Hopefully you will someday understand how precious our Constitution is.
Let me make this VERY plain for you to understand. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Many times the Supreme Court has ruled the 2nd Amendment is a personal right and not a right of the state and has upheld this fact. If you take out gang violence and suicides out of the gun statistics its really a very different statistic all together but you aren’t worried about facts, you operate on emotion it’s clear.
If you think Japan is so amazing or you hate the United States so much I suggest contacting and embassy and start immigration paperwork to move, you might be shocked how they treat immigrants to their country. Japan isn’t the land of utopia, they have a staggering suicide rate and 21.30 per 100,000, highest in the G19 nations, hidden levels of crime, racism and other issues like many other countries but they just hide it with extreme politeness a calm demeanor. But again facts are a tough thing for you I imagine in life
Whidbey, a firearm is a conglomeration of metals, alloys, and polymers. It has to be acquired, ammo acquired, loaded, transported, pointed, aimed, and fired. Who orchestrates this? A human! We should make murder illegal, oh wait, it already is. What’s the problem?
Has to be a hoax.
Japan has absolute gun control!
Uhh…maybe MRAK should also report on the statement that President Biden made on the assassination. After all, he is the sitting President, and Trump is just a Loser trying to keep himself in the news.
And by the way, in 2018, Japan, a country of 125 million people, only reported nine deaths from firearms compared with 39,740 that year in the United States. Apparently they have only 1/4415th of the “mental health” issues that the US has.
Whidbey, why don’t you tell us how many people are killed with swords in Japan? Or did that not even cross your mind?
In 2021 thee were approximately 15 deaths caused by long knives and swords in Japan. Source: NHK.
Not true Dog, knifes are the weapon of choice for murder in Japan.
Look it up. But then why would you? Truth is only what a Bolshevik wants to believe.
“…….in 2018, Japan, a country of 125 million people, only reported nine deaths from firearms compared with 39,740 that year in the United States……..”
Well, that’s not surprising for a people who aren’t permitted to possess guns……….and, by the way, did you study why that is? But since Japan’s suicide rate is (and always has been) among the highest on Earth, they simply do it with other tools. Yes, the suicide rate in the US has climbed by 50% since 2000 to nearly that of Japan, but I’m sure you’d prefer to attribute that to the number of firearms in the US (despite the difficulty in finding ammo), and certainly NOT a crisis in chemical narcotic abuse and mental health collapse. If we were to all wander the streets stoned, uncertain of our genders, and armed only with penises and vaginas, we’d all be perfectly fine and healthy, no?
How sad for PM Abe family, friends and Japan. I cannot help but believe this was a well thought out target, and possibly sending message around the world.
Last I checked the rates of suicide in Japan are far higher than in the US, dispelling the tie between suicide and firearms touted by Democrats, the medical industry (including State of Alaska DHSS), and the anti-freedom lobby.
The indistinct photo I saw of the gun allegedly used to shoot Abe reminded me of the so-called zip guns identified with US urban gang members during the middle of the 20th century. The media then moved on to Saturday-night specials, then to imported military surplus rifles (such as the one used by Lee Harvey Oswald), and currently to assault rifles. Democrats and much of US media are always looking for labels that will stick in the minds of politicians; ghost gun is a good example.
And amazingly, the media was tracking the trend of ever growing gun violence! That wicked media!!!
How about more on Abe and less about guns in Japan.
Yeah, about a quarter of this article is dedicated to a 30 year old State Department report on guns in Japan, and it uses some pretty inflammatory language itself.
Many compare our so-called “gun deaths” to those world-wide. However, these comparisons are apples and oranges. No other country in the history of the world has ever had a constitution like ours; a constitution holding God-given rights of individual citizens more sacred than the those of the collective. Therefore, our 2nd Amendment exists to protect something more valuable and sacred than any other country in history. It’s, in a word, incomparable.
So it appears that Abe who was a staunch conservative was assassinated by a person who opposed his politics…a liberal.
Yes, Bob, it is interesting how that little fact is ignored and hushed-up by the corrupt corporate media.
possibly, but maybe it was a conservative who did not know the Liberal Dermocratic Party is actually the conservative party. All so confusing.
Sad. When anyone dies in Japan a death certificate is promptly given to the immediate next of kin and the body is typically cremated the next day. If an American dies in Japan they are cremated the next day. $. The ashes are disposed of only to the next of kin.$. Burials are very infrequent. Embalming is not completely unheard of but not many providers. Airlines have regulations that are immuteable somber and expensive. Funerary practices are different in Japan. Customs are different. A death is not discussed by government health agencies with decedent’s friends. Communication is very, very limited to next of kin. No one ever knows anything
ever. Japan is very dangerous for minorities to travel alone. If you love someone don’t let them go to Japan.
Something of note, it was a “homemade” gun. Where there’s a will there’s a way and we’ll see more of this. With the internet and 3D printing, homemade firearms are easier than ever.
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