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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By Motoko Rich
July 8, 2022
By Motoko Rich
July 8, 2022Updated 10:34 a.m. ET
“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.”