The assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign rally in western Japan was particularly difficult to understand because it included firearms. It is a very rare type of crime in countries where there are some of the strictest laws regarding the purchase and ownership of firearms.
Although any form of violence is rare in Japan, gun violence is almost unprecedented.There was just 1 firearm-related death Since 2017, there have been 14 gun-related deaths, a very low number for a country of 125 million.
Erika Inoue, a 25-year-old designer from Tokyo, expressed a common reaction, saying it would be difficult to deal with gun violence.
“The shooting part is confusing,” she said. “Do you have a gun? In Japan?”
As a general rule, Japanese firearms law stipulates that guns are not permitted in Japan. With the exception of guns used for hunting, the process of obtaining a license is time consuming and expensive, so few people do the hassle.
Before buying a firearm, you must start with a gun safety class and pass 12 steps to pass the written exam, which is held three times a year. The doctor must approve the physical and mental health of the gun buyer. Other procedures include extensive background checks and police inspections of gun vaults and ammunition lockers needed to store firearms and bullets.
Prior to Friday, the shooting was even more shocking, as even the idea of political murder looked like an old relic.
In Japan’s famous calm politics, temperament is rare. Parliamentary debates usually do not go beyond cat barks and false anger, and even super-right-wing groups who regularly roam the streets of the city in black vans screaming for political propaganda are against public safety. It is considered more annoying than a threat.
Police protection at political events is light, and voters have plenty of opportunities to interact with the country’s top leaders during the elections.The video showed a suspicious shooter on Friday Walk undisturbed Fire a handmade gun near the former Prime Minister.
Local Japanese police said the handmade guns used in the shooting were more than one foot long and more than eight inches high. They also said they had seized some handmade guns to search the suspect’s house.
Unlike the United States, where gun rights are constantly being debated, firearms are rarely debated in Japanese politics. Mass murders, in rare cases, usually do not use guns. Instead, the perpetrator complains of arson and puncture wounds.
For the past few weeks, the Japanese media has been watching a series of mass shootings in the United States, a mixture of distrust and turmoil.After school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the Asahi Shimbun, the second largest newspaper in Japan in terms of circulation, Published an editorial He called the United States a “gun society” and said another tragedy turned the classroom into a “gun slaughter zone.”
Published by the well-known weekly business magazine / website “Toyo Keizai” article After the attack on the Capitol on January 6, last year, “Why is’gun ownership’a non-negotiable right in the United States?” “
In an article, journalist Keiko Tsuyama said, “It’s hard for the Japanese to understand why gun ownership continues in the United States despite so many casualties.”
Even if police officers have firearms, most Japanese rarely encounter guns in their daily lives. And until Mr Abe’s shooting, Japan had little experience of the emotional and political aftermath of gun violence. This is a familiar ritual in the United States.
In 2021, there were 10 shootings in Japan, causing death, injury or property damage. National Police Agency.. Of these gun-related episodes, one died and four were injured. Accidents and suicides are not included.
largely About 192,000 licensed firearms The country has shotguns and hunting rifles.By comparison, in the United States, where most firearms are unregistered, the number of guns in the hands of civilians is based on some estimates. Nearly 400 million.
Political assassinations have been a regular feature of Japan’s turbulent politics for several years leading up to World War II. But since then, only a handful of politicians have been killed, most of whom have not used guns.
The last murder of a national-level politician was in 1960, when a 17-year-old extreme nationalist stabbed and killed Inejiro Asanuma, the leader of the Japan Socialist Party.
That same year, another ultra nationalist Attacked Abe’s grandfatherPrime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, stabbed his leg many times and sent him to the hospital.
The political violence that Japan has seen over the last few decades is often associated mostly with organized crime and right-wing groups. In 2007, Mayor of Nagasaki, Kazunaga Ito, was shot dead by a gangster.
Journalists have also been targeted from time to time. In 1987, a reporter from the Asahi Shimbun on the left was killed in an incident related to the right-wing anti-Korean group.
Protesters may express dissatisfaction by taking their lives, hoping to sympathize with the public for their cause. Most notably, novelist Yukio Mishima committed suicide in 1970 with a disembowelment after leading a small group of right-wing extremists in a coup failure.
Gerald L. Curtis, an emeritus professor of political science at Columbia University and an expert in Japanese politics, said the deadly attack on Prime Minister Abe would have a negative impact on Japanese politics.
“It will undoubtedly shake the Japanese terribly and strengthen the view that post-WWII Japan is no longer a safe and peaceful country and must change to deal with the new and horrifying realities it faces. “He said in an email.
“The question is how Japanese political leaders will respond.”
