The NYT reports, just now.
Mieko Nakabayashi was in a TV studio, waiting to be interviewed about Boris Johnson’s resignation, when she heard that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been shot during a campaign speech.
Ms. Nakabayashi, a former lawmaker and a professor of political science at Waseda University, said she and the program’s hosts were “astonished,” adding that “they couldn’t believe that this could happen in Japan.”
The attack on former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan was especially shocking because it involved a gun — a type of crime that is extremely rare in a country with some of the most stringent laws around buying and owning a firearm.
Why assassinate a former leader? Because of the positions he took?
During his two terms the 67-year-old conservative prime minister faced steep opposition for his push for a more muscular military and his bid to revise a pacifist clause in the country’s Constitution, which had been imposed by the United States after World War II.
Posts
47 comments:
“they couldn’t believe that this could happen in Japan.”
Abe assassinated: Here are major incidents of violence against politicians in Japan
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. 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 labor 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.
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, the outspoken mayor of the small town Mitake was attacked at home and seriously injured. Police suspected organized crime in the bludgeoning of Yanagawa.
In 2002, Democratic Party MP Kouki Ishii was stabbed in front of his house by a right-wing group representative and died. -
in 2006, The office and home of Koichi Kato, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party were set on fire and burned down.
in 2007- Another Nagasaki mayor Iccho Itoh was shot and killed by a member of an organized crime group.
I’m giving the side eye to China. They’re involved in this somehow.
Currently, news is reporting it was a grudge or discontent with Abe, but not about a political platform.
"a country with some of the most stringent laws around buying and owning a firearm."
So the gun didn't do it this time.
Rocketeer is probably right. China certainly wouldn't want an armed Japan making its own defense policy.
It really was a miracle that there was no assassination attempt against Trump.
Two pieces of pipe, a 2 X 6, duct tape and a trigger mechanism. The Japanese version of a ghost gun.
"no assassination attempt against Trump."
We had the thing in Las Vegas where a guy grabbed a cop's gun.
I think this follows from internal Japanese politics rather than China or a complex conspiracy: Japan's Liberal Democratic Party has dominated politics since WW2 and is neither liberal nor democratic. It's very much a USA-friendly statist version of the Chinese Communist Party. Japan, China, and Korea have long, long, long maintained eye-over-the-shoulder and traditional single-party rule. Call them kingdoms, call them empires, call them "the people's government", it doesn't matter. There's little interest in debate, little room for debate, and little hope of change. The attitude is often: "Why get rid of this group/party because the next one will be pretty much the same?"
So, I think this and prior political assassinations in Japan follow from a medieval sense of honor at the personal level coupled with limited ability to effect change. Frustration results. (Plus, early rumors are that the assassin this time was personally unhappy and built his own gun. This may deflate other efforts at unregistered gun control, as the technology is primitive and easy to DIY.)
My heart aches for beautiful Japan. What a terrible thing to happen in a place that is sooooooo non violent. A terrible thing to happen anywhere, and I'm so sorry for the Abe family. But wow, this really hits me.
Closest leader to Trump & worked with him on strengthening the military against threats from the Norks & China. Don't discount his relationship with Trump.
right now I'm thinking Aum Shinrikyo (or one of its modern day descendants) is behind this. Aum is the cult involved with the sarin gas attack in '95. The founder Shoko Asahara was executed in 2018, on the 6th of July. Abe was shot on the 7th July. He was the one who ordered Asahara's execution.
If he was still a leader of his party, he would still be a target.
I'd expect judo or stick fighting or something, not guns. Westernization has taken over the criminal element.
The US favors Japan having a regular military. It's the Japanese that are against it. Once bitten twice shy.
Exactly. That kinda thing could never happen in The Republic of Texas because the bad guys tremble in fear of the swaggering macho packing would be heros always vigilant ready to spring into action with a hair trigger.
You don't think Progressives think about assassinating Trump every single day??
8:28am, and NOTHING from BIDEN. THIS is what an absent President looks like. Hope you Biden voters are happy.
Because he was still the putative leader of his Party. The killer claimed he had no political agenda, just a personal grudge. Why believe him?
For what it's worth: A competent machinist can build a primitive gun in a couple of hours using scrap materials from his shop. With minimal tools, I could build one in my garage in a day. They would not be pretty, but they would work. Gun control is a campaign issue and not a serious societal undertaking in a first world country.
Abe was speaking out about defending Taiwan and about the danger from China. Then he is assassinated. With an untraceable, DIY gun, not made in China. BY someone who was unstable and easily manipulated and who had a personal grudge which just then, coincidentally, became worse. That's a classic "lone wolf" killing.
"his push for a more muscular military and his bid to revise a pacifist clause in the country’s Constitution"
So we know the assassin wasn't a devotee of Mishima.
This is how I know for sure the world has fallen into chaos. This is not what the world expects in Japan.
Conflating a political assassination attempt with ordinary crime and dragging in gun control is just pandering to American liberals. And Japan has a long and storied tradition of political violence and attempted and successful assassination. Gilbar supplied a nice summary of recent history, go read about the 1920s and 30s for more. The Japanese are not a peaceful people.
Homemade gun used to kill Japan’s ex-PM Shinzo Abe
The shooting was particularly shocking in a country that prides itself on having some of the strictest gun laws in the world.
Private citizens are barred from owning handguns, and licensed hunters may own only rifles
“Firearms legislation in Japan is very restrictive, so I think what we’re seeing here, with what’s probably a muzzle-loading weapon, is not just an attempt to circumvent the control of firearms, but also the strict control of ammunition in Japan”
The images show what appears to be a rudimentary double-barrelled shotgun, with two tubes taped together atop a wooden body and a black handle.
This is OUTRAGEOUS! No Sportsman needs such a military grade weapon!!
The Second Amendment, from the day it was passed didn't mean to include guns held together with tape.
‘You Couldn’t Buy Duct tape!!’
Until comprehensive gun laws PREVENT these sorts of weapons; They are NOTHING but window dressing!
Howard: Who are you even addressing? Were you considering the example of Charles Whitman, on the UT Tower, or were you thinking about the Ft. Hood shooter, praise Allah - or were you thinking about the scores of other cases where someone was able to step in - like the Sutherland Springs church shooter that was killed - but only after killing 26 himself. Your sarcasm is hollow - but that's the product of thinking in 2 dimensions I guess. Everything is flat, and in your case, also in black and white.
His maternal grandfather Nobusuke Kishi was de facto "economic king" of occupied China and Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state in Northern China, in the lead-up to World War II, and during the war, had served as Vice Minister of Munitions in the cabinet of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō. At the end of the war, Kishi was imprisoned in Sugamo Prison as a suspected "Class-A" war criminal by the US military occupation of Japan, but was released and later de-purged as part of the Occupation's "reverse course." In his book Utsukushii Kuni e (Toward a Beautiful Country), Abe wrote: "Some people used to point to my grandfather as a 'Class-A war criminal suspect,' and I felt strong repulsion. Because of that experience, I may have become emotionally attached to 'conservatism,' on the contrary". Kishi went on to help found the Liberal Democratic Party in 1955, and served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. Wikipedia
Guns in Japan.. who knew!
Abe-san was PM when we lived there.
He seemed like a good guy and was very friendly with Trump; much more than just a political friendship.
I haven't read too many details yet, but gun crimes are virtually non-existent in Japan, although I heard a report this morning about a 'homemade' gun.
If that is true, it shows dedication and cunning on the part of the assassin who will be found guilty.
What I'm not familiar with is Japan's views of mental incompetence as applied to criminal action.
I am going to guess that they will not be sympathetic...
Howard is jealous of Texas. The Mass pussies never do school shootings. It's envy as much as anything. The Uvalde thing was, of course, the failure of police. The only people who should be allowed to have guns. The police sniper had the kid in his sights before he got into the school but was waiting for permission to shoot.
Really, Howard, you continue to embarrass yourself with your comments.
"Whitman shot most of his victims near or in the heart. In total, he murdered 14 people and wounded 30 more on the campus before being shot and killed by two police officers, with a wide range of civilians assisting authorities during the crisis."
It is well-known that the local police were assisted by a number of men who came to the UT-Austin campus with their personal weapons to help in any way they could. Several of these civilians took up positions around the tower and put covering fire on the roof to keep Whitman pinned down during the operation to get police into the tower to go up to the roof to take him out. The final assault was made by three police officers and a civilian who volunteered to accompany them with his personal rifle as they entered the tower and climbed the stairs to the roof. Two of the policemen shot him and killed him to end it.
And WHEN it happens in America, there will be blood all over the Progressive party who pushed for it to happen. Right MAXINE WATERS??
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2022/07/08/smug-lefties-find-it-funny-that-brett-kavanaugh-had-to-be-snuck-out-of-restaurant-to-avoid-angry-protesters-just-weeks-after-assassination-attempt/
And WHEN it happens in America, there will be blood all over the Progressive party who pushed for it to happen. Right MAXINE WATERS?? And all the nasty left wing assholes tweeting nonsense because they think they can't murder babies anymore. Ridiculous. This is not going to end well for them.
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2022/07/08/smug-lefties-find-it-funny-that-brett-kavanaugh-had-to-be-snuck-out-of-restaurant-to-avoid-angry-protesters-just-weeks-after-assassination-attempt/
I am seeing that he was shot with home-made shotgun and blackpowder
NPR and CBS are both trashing him because of his politics. It's almost like they are okay if somebody in America did that to a Conservative here.....
.@CBSMornings trashes Shinzo Abe hours after his assassination, calling him "a polarizing figure," "right-wing nationalist, and conservative" whose "political opinions were controversial"
https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1545386641984028672? (NPR deleted tweet)
it will be itteresting if Trump is invited and goes to attend funeral!!??
claim : Abe and Trump families are friends!
Pipe Violence!
The suspect, named as Tetsuya Yamagami, admitted shooting Abe with a homemade gun, and said he had a grudge
'it will be itteresting if Trump is invited and goes to attend funeral!!??'
I hadn't thought of that.
It would be very interesting, indeed.
Biden will send Harris and Trump will show up in his newly-painted jet.
And we're told gun crime doesn't happen in nations with strict gun control. What's this, the third high profile one in a week?
Almost as if criminals didn't follow the law. Who'd a thunk it?
For what it's worth: A competent machinist can build a primitive gun in a couple of hours using scrap materials from his shop. With minimal tools, I could build one in my garage in a day. They would not be pretty, but they would work. Gun control is a campaign issue and not a serious societal undertaking in a first world country.
I'm at a barely competent, hobby level with wood and metal. But I can make a device go bang. And any guy in Japan with a hack saw can transform a rifle or shotgun into a concealable gun in minutes.
Now give me a couple of propane tanks....
Apparently the most stringent gun laws didn't anticipate a person using pvc pipe and a battery with a switch. I guess the framers of the law never thought one day citizens would have access to electric batteries.
Yeah, the narrative that Japan doesn't suffer political violence is nonsense.
I’m giving the side-eye to China. They’re involved in this somehow.
Many intelligence analysts believe there is a significant number of armed North Korean sleeper agents who have infiltrated Japan over the decades. Several Japanese citizens were kidnapped to provide training lectures to these agents. Most of them are quite elderly by now, but their weapons, Makarov-style handguns, for the most part, are still there awaiting the call.
Japan had had real coup attempts, at least 5 in 1931-6.
Abe made the fatal mistake of being a friend of Trump. The legacy media cannot tolerate that so they slander him. What else is new?
I haven't been able to find how far away from Abe the killer was when he fired. I assume he must have been pretty close, to be able to fire a fatal shot with such a crude, home-made weapon. Does anyone know? And is Japanese security lax enough to allow a bad guy to get that close?
Japanese TV channel shows police searched killer’s home and found few more guns of the same type. Not likely he was alone in making his own guns. Likely, some people in Japan are making and distributing these and other guns.
Post a Comment