Assassination of Japan's Abe

Japan on Saturday marked a year since the shock assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the country's longest-serving leader and a towering political figure.

Abe was gunned down in broad daylight while giving a campaign speech in western Japan, targeted by a man allegedly angry over the former leader's links to the Unification Church.

The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, was apprehended on the spot and is said to have resented the sect over large donations that his mother made that bankrupted his family. -- AFP

A pre-trial hearing for the man accused of killing Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe was cancelled Monday after a suspicious object was delivered to the court, local media said.

Nara District Court could not immediately confirm the reports by public broadcaster NHK and other local media, which said the site was evacuated after what appeared to be an "unidentified bag" arrived at the court. — AFP

Local media says Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted the man accused of killing former prime minister Shinzo Abe for murder and violation of gun control laws.

Tetsuya Yamagami was detained immediately after the former Japanese premier was gunned down last July while giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. — AFP

Media reports say a psychiatric assessment of whether a man accused of killing former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is fit to stand trial has been extended to February.

Suspect Tetsuya Yamagami was apprehended at the scene when Abe was shot dead in broad daylight in July.

Prosecutors halted questioning of Yamagami weeks later in order to examine his mental state around the time of the incident. — AFP

Thousands of Japanese people wait to offer flowers and prayers for slain former premier Shinzo Abe, even as others march nearby in protest.

The decision to hold a state funeral for the assassinated ex-leader split public opinion, and the rival scenes in Tokyo laid bare the divisions.

Foreign dignitaries joined Japanese officials for the ceremony inside the Budokan. Outside the storied venue, businessmen, retirees and teenagers waited in the late September sunshine, some of them dusted by cooling mist jets. — AFP

A man set himself on fire near the Japanese prime minister's office on Wednesday after expressing opposition to a state funeral for assassinated ex-premier Shinzo Abe, local media said.

Police declined to confirm the incident, but the government said an individual with burns had been found near government property.

"We are aware that a man with burns was found by a police officer at 7:00 am (2200GMT) this morning at an intersection below the cabinet office," top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno says.

"But details are currently being examined by police," he adds, declining to answer further questions on the incident. — AFP

Japan will hold a state funeral for assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe on September 27, the government announces, with foreign leaders expected to attend.

The ceremony will be held at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan, a large venue that has hosted concerts and sports events, and was used for Japan's last state funeral for a former prime minister in 1967.

Government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno says Abe's record as Japan's longest-serving prime minister, his "truly praiseworthy" achievements, and his ties with foreign leaders made a state funeral appropriate.

"We will also accept foreign dignitaries, and countries we have diplomatic relationships with will be informed of details," he adds. — AFP

Taiwanese Vice President William Lai visited Japan on Monday to pay tribute to assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe, Taiwanese media said, in a surprise trip bound to rattle China. 

The state-funded Central News Agency quoted lawmaker Kuo Kuo-Wen of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party as saying that Lai cancelled other plans to make the trip on the orders of President Tsai Ing-wen.

The visit marks "a diplomatic breakthrough", the report quoted Kuo as saying.

It also makes Lai the highest-ranking government official to visit Japan since the country severed official ties with Taipei in 1972 to recognise Beijing, according to multiple Taiwanese media outlets. 

The Taiwanese government has remained tight-lipped about the visit -- likely to raise hackles in Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary. 

Taiwan's foreign ministry said it had no further information about "Vice President Lai's personal itinerary" when asked to comment on the reports. 

While Japan does not formally recognise Taiwan, relations between the two have warmed in recent years, with Tokyo donating several batches of Covid vaccines to the island and becoming more outspoken about China's growing influence in the region. 

Abe was dubbed "the most Taiwan-friendly Japanese prime minister" by Taiwanese media, and he continued to voice support for the island in the face of Chinese military and economic pressure after stepping down.  -- AFP

Washington's top diplomat hails assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe as a "man of vision" as he offered condolences Monday in Tokyo, where family will later hold a wake for the murdered politician.

Japan's ruling coalition meanwhile declares victory in a sombre election held Sunday, just two days after Abe was gunned down on the campaign trail.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a previously unscheduled trip to Japan while on an Asia tour and says he was there because "we're friends, and when one friend is hurting, the other friend shows up."

Abe "did more than anyone to elevate the relationship between the United States and Japan to new heights," he adds, after meeting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. — AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives Monday on a previously unscheduled stop to Tokyo to offer condolences in person over the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

The top US diplomat landed at the Yokota military base and was due to make a brief journey into the capital to see Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and voice his sorrow. — AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Japan on Monday to offer condolences in person over the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the State Department said.

Blinken, who was in Bangkok on Sunday, will "offer condolences to the Japanese people" in meetings with senior officials in Tokyo, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, was shot during a campaign stop on Friday in an exceedingly rare gun crime in one of the world's safest countries.

Abe built tight relations with the United States, especially in defense, as he tried to shed some of his country's post-war pacifism.

"The alliance between Japan and the United States has been a cornerstone of our foreign policy for decades," Blinken said Saturday after Group of 20 talks in Bali. — AFP

A funeral hearse carrying the body of assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe arrives in Tokyo on Saturday from the western Japanese city where he was shot on the campaign trail.

An AFP journalist saw the vehicle enter Abe's residence in the Japanese capital, while TV footage showed senior members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party dressed in black and lined up to pay their respects.

Japanese police say the suspected killer of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe used handmade gun.

Kremlin hails Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as "patriot" after death confirmed.

A local media reports that a man was arrested for attempted murder after former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was apparently shot on Friday while delivering a stump speech.

The man appeared to be in his 40s and a gun had been confiscated, says public broadcaster NHK, citing police sources. Local police were not immediately able to comment when contacted by AFP.

Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot at a campaign event on Friday, a government spokesman said, as local media reported the nation's longest-serving premier was showing no vital signs. Follow this thread for updates. Photo courtesy of AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi