Posted on 07/08/2022 1:31:44 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
Abe’s own grandfather, Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, was stabbed in the thigh in 1960 and severely injured during a reception at the Prime Minister’s Office. That same year, Inejiro Asanuma, then head of the Japan Socialist Party, was fatally stabbed by a 17-year-old rightist while making a speech at a public hall in Hibiya, Tokyo.
In the years that followed, Prime Minister Takeo Miki, Deputy Prime Minister Shin Kanemaru and Prime Minister Morihiro Hokosawa were either attacked or shot in 1975, 1992 and 1994, respectively. They all survived the attacks.
Local-level politicians have also been attacked.
In 1990 — two years after commenting on Emperor Hirohito’s responsibility in World War II — Nagasaki Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima was shot by a senior member of a rightist group.
Yukio Aoshima received a parcel bomb during his time as Tokyo’s governor in 1995. Aoshima was unharmed, but an official of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was seriously injured.
More recently, Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito was campaigning in 2007 when he was shot and killed by a senior member of a crime organization.
(Excerpt) Read more at japantimes.co.jp ...
Political assassinations were frequent in the years before the end of WWII, when Japan was said to practice “government by assassination.”
The assassin was formerly in the navy, which harkens back to the days before WW2 when the Japanese Army and Navy were bitter enemies.
Reminds me of the Scandinavian countries. Beneath the calm surface of conformity there’s a roiling ocean of passion that occasionally breaks through to the surface. All that orderliness and clean, refined aesthetic is there for a reason. There’s a samurai in there yearning to unleash the katana just like there’s a berserker underneath reaching for his axe.
I doubt the assassin is a “right winger”. Even in Japan.
Well, it’s their culture.
I wonder what the motivation was for the attack on his grandfather?
The press just reported this attacker told police it was be caused he believed Abe belonged to a certain organization, but the police have not named the organization, nor is there an explanation given by the attacker on how or why he made that conclusion, where he got the idea.
His grandfather was linked to a lot war crimes. Abe then becomes PM and denies atrocities... That’s got to sting a bit with some audiences.
“Reminds me of the Scandinavian countries.”
Like Sweden’s Olaf Palme in 1986. 357 magnum did the trick. Case never solved.
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