Probably not a household name here in the US, but a significant world leader nonetheless. He was Japan's longest serving PM, and his policies ranged from a "Make Japan Great Again" military build-up to his 'three arrows" financial policies (Abenomics) whose wild spending and monetary easing would warm the hearts of folks on the otha side of the yawning political chasm here in America. Interesting thinker and doer. Political assassinations are not exactly unheard of in the Land of the Rising Sun, but gun crimes are not as much of a 'thing' and handguns are viewed with even more contempt than they are in the EU (Abe's killer apparently used a "ghost" not-quite-a-handgun.) ご冥福を祈ります。 (Hope that's right!)
He helped orchestrate Japan's return form the "lost decade" of the late 90's and early 2000. A lesson every economics student must master to get their degree. Something that we, here in the states may have to face and has been lucky to avoid so far.......... RIP; he will be missed......
Not really a fan of that form of state sponsored murder, but it might be preferable to LWOP in one of their prisons.
While this type of incident is very unusual in Japan it is not unheard of. When in Japan on work assignment in 2000 I felt perfectly safe while walking after midnight in downtown Nagoya, Toyko, Kyoto or Toyota City. Violent crime wasn't tolerated, the Japanese people just won't put up with it I hope that hasn't changed since then.
i was surprised to learn he was a firm believer in writing the pacifist stuff out of their constitution. seems to be a big point of contention, even though we had good relations mostly otherwise
That's why the references to him being "Japan's Trump' are only made by those who are willfully ignorant of Shinzo's policies. Despite his membership in the curiously named 'Liberal Democratic Party' Abe spent money like a real lib. I was never much of a fan of Abe's flavor of Nationalism, but I understand that a lot of it was probably playing to the home crowd. MY mileage. Japan c-2022 has even less in common with Imperial Japan than Germany has with the Third Reich, and as we've seen ONLY RECENTLY with the latter, it IS possible to meet one's self-defense OBLIGATIONS without going all "mega MAGA.' It's culturally complicated, and racism cuts both ways but somehow ALL of Japans near-peer nations pretty much at least pretended to play well together under Abe Imperial Japan made lots of enemies after Matthew Calbraith Perry's black boats prompted the Meiji Restoration. Only ONE of these nations was not-so-curiously silent after Abe's murder.
We agree, for once. I didn't know Abe, but everyone I know who did know him very much respected him. Even those who didn't agree with his policies said that he was honest and trustworthy, and that his decisions were led by what he thought was best for Japan, rather than what was politically expedient or what was best for him. It really is a shocking incident. Almost unheard of, though. It's hard to get recent figures, but there were nine gun deaths - including suicides and accidents - in 2018, and one gun homicide in 2017, in a country with a population around 40% of that of the US.
