Shinzo Abe: A "Taxi Driver" Inspired (?) Terrorist Killing

Shinzo Abe's Official portrait, 2020
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Wikipedia reports that on 8 July 2022, Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, was fatally shot while delivering a campaign speech near Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara, Nara Prefecture, at approximately 11:30 JST (UTC+9).^[2][3] He was critically wounded, showing no vital signs and was in cardiopulmonary arrest.^[4][1] Japanese state media reported about five hours later that he had died in the hospital at 5:03pm JST.^[5][6]

Shooting

On 8 July 2022, Abe was making a speech on behalf of Councillor Kei Satō, a Liberal Democratic Party candidate running for re-election, ahead of upcoming upper house elections scheduled on Sunday, 10 July. Abe was shot twice from behind with an improvised^[1] double-barreled shotgun and collapsed.

^[7][8][9] The assassination marks the first time an Improvised firearm was used to assassinate a political figure.^{[citation needed]}

Abe was initially conscious and communicative right after he was shot. He was transported to a local hospital by an emergency helicopter with a chest wound and was reported to have no vital signs when he arrived at Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara.^{[2][10][11][9]} At a press conference held from 2:45 p.m. JST, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Abe was in a critical condition and that "doctors [were] doing everything they [could]".^[12]

Suspect

Click here for latest Wiki update. Tetsuya Yamagami (Japanese: 山上徹也), a forty-one-year-old man living in Nara City, was arrested by Nara Prefectural Police at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder and was transferred to the Nara Nishi Police Station.^[50] He was described as being calm and having made no attempts to flee.^[51][52][53] Yamagami had no prior criminal history.^[54]

Yamagami was born in Mie Prefecture.^[55] Described as quiet and reserved in high school,^[56][57][58] he wrote in his graduation yearbook that he "didn't have a clue" what he wanted to do in the future.^[59][60] Yamagami joined the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in August 2002; he was posted to Kure Naval Base and assigned to the destroyer JS Matsuyuki.^[61][59][62] He was discharged from the JMSDF in August 2005 as a quartermaster^[61] with the rank of leading seaman.^[56] During his service, Yamagami had firearms training once every year.^[63][56]

In October 2020, Yamagami had started working as a forklift operator in Kyoto Prefecture for a manufacturer that operated in the Kansai region.^[64] There he was described as quiet. He quit in May 2022 after claiming that he was "feeling unwell".^[65][59][66] Yamagami was unemployed at the time of his arrest.^[65][67]

Yamagami told investigators that his motive had been personal rather than political.^{[68][69][70][71]} His mother had become bankrupt after making large donations to the Unification Church, a South Korea-based new religious movement of which she had been a member,^{[72][73][74][67]} which led to him holding a grudge against the group.^[75][76] The Unification Church has historical ties to Abe's father and grandfather, and Abe himself had previously delivered a speech praising the group.^[77][78][79] Yamagami researched these connections in the months before the attack, faulting Abe with spreading the church's influence in Japan.^[80]

Yamagami stated that his initial plan was to assassinate a high-ranking official of the Unification Church,^[81] but later decided to target Abe instead.^[82][83] He stalked Abe in various locations, including a campaign rally in Okayama Prefecture the day before the assassination, and kept track of Abe's schedule during his visit to Nara City via Abe's website.^[84][85][86] He also claimed that he was planning an attack for several months and had built the weapon used in the shooting.^[87][88]

Police discovered several possible explosive devices and handmade guns similar to the one used to shoot Abe during a search of Yamagami's home following his arrest.^[89][69][90] They were later seized as evidence and taken by bomb disposal officers after nearby residents were evacuated.^[91][92][93] Websites about bomb-making and weapons manufacturing were discovered in Yamagami's browsing history.^[94]

Aftermath

A crisis management center was established at the prime minister's office.^[17] Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was in Yamagata Prefecture for the election campaign, cancelled his remaining schedule in order to return to Tokyo.^[10] 

All other members of the incumbent cabinet were also called back to Tokyo, with the exception of Foreign Affairs Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi who was in Indonesia for G20 meetings, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.^[18] According to Liberal Democratic Party officials, Abe died at the hospital.^[6]

Pete Comment

This is very sad and shocking. 

Assassinations are relatively rare in Japan. 

There was an assassination attempt by stabbing of Abe's maternal grandfather, top level politician, Nobusuke Kishi, in 1960.

Motivations of the Suspect who shot Abe might include revenge against the Unification Church, in the Suspect's mind, with Abe symbolically representing that Church. Also there is the Suspect's possible unemployed alienation, loneliness and a desire to be instantly famous, to do something to be noticed.

The Suspect's violent actions can be seen as terrorism due to:

-  the anti-religious (anti-Unification Church) ideological nature. 

-  a terrorist seeks publicity through highly reported violent acts to make his political message known. Shooting a very famous politician in front of TV cameras and a crowd gains publicity. 

The Suspect was also considering using explosives in the assassination which would cause mass civilian casualties - usually a terrorist's aim.  

There is a danger that other people will now be inspired to do "copycat" assassinations elsewhere.

I wonder if the Suspect had a particular interest in the 1976 American film Taxi Driver in which the "Taxi Driver" spent considerable time planning the operation including attending early rallies of the target politician. The "Taxi Driver"  also did some equipment modifications at home to deploy his assassination pistol more quickly. In real life Taxi Driver generated further controversy by inspiring John Hinckley Jr.'s attempted assassination of then-President Ronald Reagan, in 1981.