Former Japanese Prime Minister of Japan Abe Shinzo assassinated during a speech

[Jotari]

Dude gave me a mask and 100,000 yen, so sucks he was killed. He wasn't even prime minister any more so I don't know what the guy was after. Had a home made gun though.

[Sunwoo]

I came across the news of his shooting late in the night, and couldn't put it out of my mind enough to sleep until I found out that he'd died. Don't quote me on this because I could be wrong, but from what I heard it sounds like a (former?) person in the Japanese Navy just really didn't like him and his policies and wanted him dead. Again, I could be wrong so don't take my word on this.

Really sucks to hear of it, though.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Killing a politician, especially during a public function, will deify him among their supporters and make the world quickly forget the things they did that you are so upset about. Source: Someone who lives in the only first world country where this is commonly *attempted.

*Bear in mind that link is only successful attempts. The vast majority are thwarted.

Edited July 8, 2022 by Zapp Branniglenn

[AnonymousSpeed]

Ah yes, the immaculate support the United States has for William McKinley. We regularly refer to the great policies of James Garfield.

I know nothing about this guy and have nothing else to say on the subject.

[Armchair General]

56 minutes ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

Someone who lives in the only first world country where this is commonly *attempted.

Two or three basket cases, an case where the victims tried to extend an olive branch in regards with the assailant's code violations, and the rest are mostly business disputes and political retaliation.

 

56 minutes ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

*Bear in mind that link is only successful attempts. The vast majority are thwarted.

Thwarted, but not without some extensive property damage.

 

 

[Capt. Fargus]

Heluva homemade gun the guy rigged up to do it. Its a wonder it didnt blow up in his hand

[Jotari]

3 hours ago, Sunwoo said:

I came across the news of his shooting late in the night, and couldn't put it out of my mind enough to sleep until I found out that he'd died. Don't quote me on this because I could be wrong, but from what I heard it sounds like a (former?) person in the Japanese Navy just really didn't like him and his policies and wanted him dead. Again, I could be wrong so don't take my word on this.

Really sucks to hear of it, though.

From what I've heard (translated by my girlfriend from local Japanese news sources as things were developing) was that it wasn't politically motivated. Just some nut job (that yes, somehow managed to build his own gun). The ones who I'd expect to pull something like that would be the far right groups that want Japan to demilitarize, but as far as I remember, Abe was actually pretty sympathetic to them. and given it's an ex military guy I doubt it's the opposite. Overall it's bizarre as he's not even in power any more.

[henrymidfields]

7 hours ago, Jotari said:

From what I've heard (translated by my girlfriend from local Japanese news sources as things were developing) was that it wasn't politically motivated. Just some nut job (that yes, somehow managed to build his own gun). The ones who I'd expect to pull something like that would be the far right groups that want Japan to demilitarize, but as far as I remember, Abe was actually pretty sympathetic to them. and given it's an ex military guy I doubt it's the opposite. Overall it's bizarre as he's not even in power any more.

Well that make it more bizarre. As a citizen over there, I initially thought this as not very surprising - well at least other than the fact that perpetrator had a homemade gun. Shinzo Abe had a few major controversies for the wrong reasons, after all, and there's an arguable case that he ignored the rule of law and procedures if we consider Moritomo Gakuen and the Sakura wo Miru Kai scandals (and neither got any proper investigations from the police), and the way he and his government railroaded the Stae Secrecy Act (特定秘密保護法) through parliament (National Diet). He had hecklers yelling him to resign in a middle of a election campaign speech in Sapporo a few years back.

Oh and btw, it's actually the far-left that wants to demilitarize. The far-right (such as Nippon Kaigi, which Shinzo Abe is a member of) wants the opposite. Also, I don't know how much of this is true, but NK wants to return back to pre-WW2 constitution including removing women sufferage. English-language source below from my local broadcaster:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-02/nippon-kaigi-and-the-rise-of-nationalism-in-japan/6994560 

Finally, he still had sway and influence as an ex-politician, hence explaining why he still appeared in the media and in election campaigns. Not to say that Europe of North America don't have unwritten rules in how one should behave and interact with influential people, but I believe Japan has a lot more of that to keep people in society in line. In my opinion it is part of the reason why whistleblowing, or social reform for women or LGBT is hard to come by. 

Edited July 9, 2022 by henrymidfields

[Jotari]

6 minutes ago, henrymidfields said:

Well that make it more bizarre. As a citizen over there, I initially thought this as not very surprising - well at least other than the fact that perpetrator had a homemade gun. Shinzo Abe had a few major controversies for the wrong reasons, after all, and there's an arguable case that he ignored the rule of law and procedures if we consider Moritomo Gakuen and the Sakura wo Miru Kai scandals (and neither got any proper investigations from the police), and the way he and his government railroaded the Stae Secrecy Act (特定秘密保護法) through parliament (National Diet). He had hecklers yelling him to resign in a middle of a election campaign speech in Sapporo a few years back.

Uh. I realize now in my previous quote I was auto corrected to demilterairze when I meant militeraize. The (rather small but vical) far right in Japan want to see Japan with an unrestricted military again which Abe was sympathetic too.

[henrymidfields]

Just now, Jotari said:

Uh. I realize now in my previous quote I was auto corrected to demilterairze when I meant militeraize. The (rather small but vical) far right in Japan want to see Japan with an unrestricted military again which Abe was sympathetic too.

Unfortunately, my friends in Australia doesn't seem to be aware of it here. I've decided to write letters to the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald to point that out. 

[Jotari]

15 minutes ago, henrymidfields said:

Well that make it more bizarre. As a citizen over there, I initially thought this as not very surprising - well at least other than the fact that perpetrator had a homemade gun. Shinzo Abe had a few major controversies for the wrong reasons, after all, and there's an arguable case that he ignored the rule of law and procedures if we consider Moritomo Gakuen and the Sakura wo Miru Kai scandals (and neither got any proper investigations from the police), and the way he and his government railroaded the Stae Secrecy Act (特定秘密保護法) through parliament (National Diet). He had hecklers yelling him to resign in a middle of a election campaign speech in Sapporo a few years back.

Oh and btw, it's actually the far-left that wants to demilitarize. The far-right (such as Nippon Kaigi, which Shinzo Abe is a member of) wants the opposite. Also, I don't know how much of this is true, but NK wants to return back to pre-WW2 constitution including removing women sufferage. English-language source below from my local broadcaster:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-02/nippon-kaigi-and-the-rise-of-nationalism-in-japan/6994560 

Finally, he still had sway and influence as an ex-politician, hence explaining why he still appeared in the media and in election campaigns. Not to say that Europe of North America don't have unwritten rules in how one should behave and interact with influential people, but I believe Japan has a lot more of that to keep people in society in line. In my opinion it is part of the reason why whistleblowing, or social reform for women or LGBT is hard to come by. 

As far as what the motivation is and if it really is just random, you'll probably have better access to the news authentic news sources than I do. But I wouldn't discount the possibility that it was politically motivated but it's just being reported as random. That actually wouldn't be the worst idea in the world for such assassinations. After all, if the assassin is actively looking for q platform to express their views via assassination, it could be better to just treat them like the guy who shot John Lennon to dissuade anyone else from seeing it as a viable course of action.

[henrymidfields]

1 minute ago, Jotari said:

As far as what the motivation is and if it really is just random, you'll probably have better access to the news authentic news sources than I do. But I wouldn't discount the possibility that it was politically motivated but it's just being reported as random. That actually wouldn't be the worst idea in the world for such assassinations. After all, if the assassin is actively looking for q platform to express their views via assassination, it could be better to just treat them like the guy who shot John Lennon to dissuade anyone else from seeing it as a viable course of action.

Good point. I haven't thought about that.

[Lord Raven]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/09/shinzo-abe-assassination-election-blinken/

Basically Abe was promoting a church that the killer's mother donated a substantial amount of her savings toward

[henrymidfields]

Sheesh, now we've got people calling in for a national funeral. I get that he had his achievements, but I really don't like how his notable shortcomings (Moritomo Gakuen etc) are being overlooked.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-14/japan-to-hold-state-funeral-for-former-premier-abe-nhk-says

Edited July 16, 2022 by henrymidfields

[Jotari]

36 minutes ago, henrymidfields said:

Sheesh, now we've got people calling in for a national funeral. I get that he had his achievements, but I really don't like how his notable shortcomings (Moritomo Gakuen etc) are being overlooked.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-14/japan-to-hold-state-funeral-for-former-premier-abe-nhk-says

I have now moved on to the conspiracy theory that it was the radical right that killed him in an attempt to make him a martyr and to make his views more acceptable.

[henrymidfields]

24 minutes ago, Jotari said:

I have now moved on to the conspiracy theory that it was the radical right that killed him in an attempt to make him a martyr and to make his views more acceptable.

The local newspapers (Sydney Morning Herald and The Age) here are pussyfooting about him too. And they're usually very good at questioning/challenging not only the govermental authorities in Australia, but in the US, UK, and most of what were the capitalist side states of the Cold War. Sydney Morning Herald even previously did an article about the document tamperings that the Abe Administration was involved in a few years back.

Edited July 16, 2022 by henrymidfields

[Zapp Branniglenn]

As I said. Only country where this is commonplace. Abe's death will accomplish far more than the remainder of his life ever could. Though I try not to jump on the conspiracy angle. It's one thing to acknowledge the simple economics of offing someone from your own party, it's another to actually attempt it and not get caught. Someone would blab. And politicians are just about the furthest thing from martyrs. You don't get into the business of "vote for me, I know best" by being a selfless, sacrificial lamb. Plus you should never underestimate the capacity for people to turn on their leaders suddenly and violently. Sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by Zapp Branniglenn