Shinzo Abe, Japan’s Longest-Serving Prime Minister, Dies at 67

Mr. Abe was shot on Friday during a campaign event. Before he left office in 2020, he helped pull his country out of economic malaise but fell short of his most cherished goal: to normalize Japan’s military after decades of postwar pacifism.

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Shinzo Abe in 2019, during his second term as Japan’s prime minister.
Shinzo Abe in 2019, during his second term as Japan’s prime minister.Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Shinzo Abe in 2019, during his second term as Japan’s prime minister.
Motoko Rich

By Motoko Rich

July 8, 2022

Motoko Rich

By Motoko Rich

July 8, 2022Updated 10:34 a.m. ET

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“Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving Japanese prime minister, who made it his political mission to vanquish his country’s wartime ghosts but fell short of his ultimate goal of restoring Japan as a normalized military power, was assassinated on Friday in the city of Nara, Japan. He was 67.

His death, from injuries sustained in a shooting during a speech at a campaign event, was confirmed by Dr. Hidetada Fukushima, professor in charge of emergency medicine at Nara Medical University Hospital.

Mr. Abe, the scion of a staunchly nationalist family of politicians that included a grandfather who was accused of war crimes before becoming prime minister, made history by leading Japan for nearly eight consecutive years, beginning in 2012.”