Tributes are being paid to former Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who has died in hospital at the age of 67 after being shot during a political campaign speech in the city of Nara.
Abe was shot twice while giving a speech in support of a local candidate for his former Liberal Democratic Party ahead of Japan’s upper house elections this week.
Cameras captured Abe immediately collapsing after the two gunshots were heard. He suffered a wound on the right of his neck and bleeding beneath the skin on the left of his chest.
The former PM was conscious and responsive in the immediate aftermath of the attack, but his state rapidly deteriorated and he was later confirmed to have died.
Doctors spend four-and-a-half hours attempting to save Abe and gave him a blood transfusion, but it was concluded that he was showing no vital signs by the time he reached hospital and had fallen into cardiopulmonary arrest at the scene of the attack.
Security officials apprehended the assassin within seconds, who made no attempt to flee. The 41-year-old shooter, a local resident and reported former member of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force, Tetsuya Yamagami, has been taken into custody.
Incumbent Japanese premier, Fumio Kishida, condemned the “barbaric and malicious” attack, adding that such violence “cannot be tolerated.”
He hailed Abe as a “personal friend” who had provided him with “valuable advice and support”, and as a man who had led Japan “with great leadership”.
Kishida added: “I have great respect for the legacy Shinzo Abe left behind and I pay the deepest condolences to him.”
Abe is remembered as the longest-serving prime minister of Japan, holding office in 2006 for a year-long period as the youngest post-war Japanese PM at the time, and once more from 2012 to 2020.
He stood down from office in 2020 and was succeeded by his party colleague Yoshihide Suga, after suffering a relapse of ulcerative colitis.
Abe was the son of Japan's ex-foreign minister, Shintaro Abe, and the grandson of former PM Nobusuke Kishi Abe. He served in Japan's parliament from 1993 and was handed his first cabinet role - that of chief cabinet secretary - in 2005.
His time in the Japanese hot-seat was spent pushing forward hardline defence and foreign policies, while his views on economic policy were based on monetary easing, structural reforms and economic stimulus.
The UK’s outgoing prime minister, Boris Johnson, has condemned the “despicable attack” on Abe, tweeting that “his global leadership through unchartered times will be remembered by many.”
Johnson added: “My thoughts are with his family, friends and the Japanese people. The UK stands with you at this dark and sad time.
Tributes have also poured in from elsewhere across the globe. Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, said that Abe had served Japan as an “outstanding leader” and “unwavering ally of the US.”
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his country would “stand closely by Japan's side in these difficult hours”, and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “heinous attack” and called Abe a “dear friend”.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi described Abe as “one of my dearest friends”, a “towering global statesman, an outstanding leader and a remarkable administrator” who had “dedicated his life to make Japan and the world a better place.”
Zhao Lijian of China’s foreign ministry said that his country was left in shock by the “unexpected incident” and stressed that it should be in no way “associated with Sino-Japanese relations” which have historically been tense.
