Shinzo Abe.Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, hasdied after sustaining gunshot woundsduring a campaign speech in Nara, Japan, on Friday morning local time.
A spokesperson for Nara Medical University confirmed the tragic news in a press conference Friday, reported CNN.
Abe, 67, held the title of prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020, having also served as president of the Liberal Democratic Party for the latter time.
Read on to learn more about the late politician.
Shinzo Abe.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
Abe comes from a family of politicians, with his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi having served as prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960, and held positions before that such as minister for foreign affairs and director-general of the Japan Defense Agency.
His father, Shintaro Abe, also held the title of minister of foreign affairs, from 1982 to 1986, and served as chief cabinet secretary in the late 1970s.
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Before his stints as prime minister, Abe, like his father, served as chief cabinet secretary from 2005 to 2006.
He was a longtime member of the House of Representatives from Yamaguchi, beginning in 1993 and lasting until his death.
Shinzo Abe.Kent Nishimura/Getty
The Liberal Democratic Party, which Abe led, is a bit of a misnomer in America. A mainstream party in Japan, its political stances are wide-ranging and conservative, more closely aligning with the Republican Party in the U.S., though not a perfect comparison.
“He’s the most towering political figure in Japan over the past couple of decades,” Dave Leheny, a political scientist at Waseda University in Tokyo,told the Associated Press. “He wanted Japan to be respected on the global stage in the way that he felt was deserved. … He also wanted Japan to not have to keep apologizing for World War II.”
Shinzo Abe.Chung Sung-Jun/Getty
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Tokyo, Abe was shot in the right side of his neck at around 11:30 a.m. local time Friday while speaking at a campaign rally ahead of Japan’s Upper House elections on Sunday, Japan’s public media organizationNHKreported.
He then collapsed and was immediately rushed to Nara Medical University for treatment, the outlet said.
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Police have arrested Tetsuya Yamagami in connection with the attack, NHK confirmed Friday, adding that a handmade gun was discovered at the scene.
Japan has one of the lowest rates of gun deaths in the world, according toBusiness Insider.
Kyler Alvord
source: people.com
