Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe appeared to be in a state of cardiac arrest when taken to hospital.
Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died, public broadcaster NHK said on Friday.
Abe, 67, had been delivering a stump speech near a train station in the western city of Nara when he was shot by an assailant.
Shots were heard and a white puff of smoke was seen as Abe made a stump speech for a Sunday upper house election outside a train station in the western city, NHK said.
An NHK reporter on the scene said they could hear two consecutive bangs during Abe’s speech.
Matsuno, told a briefing Abe had been shot at about 11:30 a.m., adding, “Such an act of barbarity cannot be tolerated.”
“Such an act of barbarity cannot be tolerated.”
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno
TBS Television reported that Abe had been shot on the left side of his chest and apparently also in the neck.
International response
Israel’s ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, expressed his dismay at the shooting, tweeting: “I am absolutely shocked by the news. Being one of the most prominent leaders of Japan, Abe san was amongst the architects of modern relations between Israel & Japan, served as a major catalyzator for the flourishing ties we see today. We are all praying for his health.”
Who is Japanese former prime minister Shinzo Abe?
Abe served two terms as prime minister to become Japan’s longest-serving premier before stepping down in 2020 citing ill health.
New Hope MK Zvi Hauser, who serves as CEO of the Friendship Society and Chamber of Commerce Israel—Japan, said: “I am shocked and pained to hear of the assassination attempt on Abe’s life, a giant who worked tirelessly for Japan and the free world at large.
“He is the one who crafted the modern Japanese diplomacy that recognizes the importance of ties with Israel and sees the joint interests that the two countries have.”
“He was one of two people who did (the second is Netanyahu) who did the most to strengthen ties between Israel and Japan,” tweeted Likud MK Amir Ohana. “When I visited Japan, I thanked him for his activism in the matter; he was interested in what was happening in Israel. I’m praying for his speedy recovery.
But he has remained a dominant presence over the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) party, controlling one of its major factions.
His protege, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, goes into an upper house election on Sunday hoping, analysts say, to emerge from Abe’s shadow and define his premiership.
Kishida suspended his election campaign after Abe’s shooting and was returning to Tokyo, media reported.
The ambassador of the United States, Rahm Emanuel, said he was saddened and shocked by the shooting of an outstanding leader and unwavering ally. The US government and people were praying for Abe’s well-being, he said.
Abe has been best known for his signature “Abenomics” policy featured bold monetary easing and fiscal spending.
He also bolstered defense spending after years of declines and expanded the military’s ability to project power abroad.
In a historic shift in 2014, his government reinterpreted the postwar, pacifist constitution to allow troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War II.
The following year, legislation ended a ban on exercising the right of collective self-defense or defending a friendly country under attack.
Abe, however, did not achieve his long-held goal of revising the US-drafted constitution by writing the Self-Defense Forces, as Japan’s military is known, into the pacifist Article 9.
He was instrumental in winning the 2020 Olympics for Tokyo, cherishing a wish to preside over the Games, which were postponed by a year to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abe first took office in 2006 as Japan’s youngest prime minister since World War Two. After a year plagued by political scandals, voter outrage at lost pension records, and an election drubbing for his ruling party, Abe quit citing ill health.
He became prime minister again in 2012.
Abe hails from a wealthy political family that included a foreign minister father and a great-uncle who served as premier.