Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shot dead in Nara
Tags: International News
Former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in Nara (Western Japan) on 8 July while campaigning for the upcoming election.
Important facts
The assailant shot Abe from behind with a shotgun with two bullets in the chest.
The 67-year-old world leader was taken to hospital in critical condition but could not be saved.
The incident happened around 11.30 am (8 am Indian time).
He was delivering an election speech on the street outside a railway station in the context of elections to the Upper House of Japan's parliament.
Abe was shot in the left side of his chest as the attacker fired multiple shots.
Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old man from the city of Nara, has been arrested on suspicion of shooting Abe with intent to kill.
Who was Shinzo Abe?
Early life
Abe was born in Tokyo on 21 September 1954, he was the son of Shintaro Abe, who served as Japan's foreign minister.
He got a bachelor's degree in political science from Seiki University in Tokyo in 1977.
He then went to the U.S. to study public policy at the University of Southern California.
In 1979 he began working at Kobe Steel as the firm was expanding its presence abroad.
He left the company in 1982 to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Political career
He was first elected as a Liberal Democratic Party legislator representing the southwestern prefecture of Yamaguchi in 1993.
Abe is seen as a conservative who was a member of the party's Mori faction, once led by his father, who died in 1991.
In 2005 Abe was appointed chief cabinet secretary under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
In the same year, he was elected head of the LDP, preparing him to take over as prime minister.
On September 26, 2006, Abe became Prime Minister of Japan for the first time, taking a tough stance on North Korea and implementing economic reforms.
After the electoral defeat in 2007 saw the LDP lose control of the legislature for the first time in 52 years, Abe resigned as prime minister.
In 2012 he was elected LDP president and became Prime Minister for the second time.
In 2013 seeking to boost growth, Abe launched his “Abenomics” policies featuring easy lending and structural reforms.
During 2014-2020 he was re-elected LDP leader and he served two additional terms as Prime Minister.
On August 28, 2020 he announced he will step down as Prime Minister due to health reasons.
Abe became Japan's longest-serving prime minister.
Abe served as prime minister for eight years between 2012 and 2020, and before that from 2006 to 2007.
On July 8, 2022, Abe was shot and seriously injured during an election campaign in the city of Nara, and later died.
Japan
Present Prime Minister - Fumio Kishida
Japan's Capital - Tokyo
Japan's Currency - Yen
Please Rate this article, so that we can improve the quality for you -