Nara Mayor Gen Nakagawa is looking for the best possible way to commemorate former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot and killed in the western Japanese city last month.
On Monday morning, flowers were placed on the traffic island near a train station where Abe was shot at close range during a July 8 campaign speech. Commuters also stopped and offered prayers.
“I can’t find words,” said a woman in her 50s, while a man in his 50s hailed the former prime minister as a man who changed Japan, criticizing inadequate security measures at the time of the speech.
People lay flowers on August 8, 2022, near the site of the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Nara, western Japan, a month after the incident during the campaign for an election in the upper house. (Kyōdo) == Kyōdo
The assassination of one of Japan’s most powerful politicians has sent shock waves across the country, where gun violence is extremely rare.
Nakagawa, who stood by Abe, says it’s important for future generations to learn from the tragedy.
“This incident will go down as a turning point in history,” Nakagawa told Kyodo News. “We want to leave behind something tangible that expresses the challenges this has brought to us.”
Nakagawa said he plans to reconsider an ongoing redevelopment project in front of Kintetsu Railway Yamato-Saidaiji Station near the site of the murder. It expects to reach a conclusion in September.
The mayor said many townspeople have expressed their desire to have a monument or a place to lay flowers so they can commemorate Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.
A woman prays on August 8, 2022, near the site of the July 8 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Nara, western Japan. Abe was killed while campaigning for an upper house election. (Kyōdo) == Kyōdo
Nakagawa favors a flower bed or an abstract work. Such a project should be based on donations rather than public funds because it would be easier to be accepted, he said.
A number of people said they didn’t want any form of memorial at the crime scene because they didn’t want to be reminded of the horrific event, according to Nakagawa.
“I’m concerned with finding the right balance so as not to divide people on the issue,” he said.
As part of the current redevelopment plan, the traffic island where the shooting occurred will be removed. If the city is to complete the current project by the end of March as planned, it will have to decide on any changes by September, according to the city.
People walk August 8, 2022, near the site of the July 8 assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Nara, western Japan. Abe was killed while campaigning for an upper house election. (Kyōdo) == Kyōdo
The attacker, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, approached Abe from behind and fired twice, first from around 7 meters and again three seconds later from around 5 meters, according to investigative sources .
Abe’s death was confirmed hours later to be due to loss of blood from gunshot wounds sustained in the attack.
Yamagami told investigators he harbored a grudge against the Unification Church, which he believed the former prime minister had ties to.
The suspect said his mother’s huge donations to the church ruined his family’s finances and that Abe’s grandfather, former prime minister Nobusuke Kishi, helped bring the group, founded in 1954 in South Korea, Japan.
A street television in Tokyo shows that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead in Nara on July 8, 2022. Abe, 67, was giving a stump speech for the July 10 election in the House of Councillors. (Kyōdo) == Kyōdo
The court approved prosecutors’ request to keep Yamagami in custody until November 29 for a psychiatric evaluation.
“I feel responsible for letting things go in the city of which I am the mayor,” Nakagawa said. “What could I have done to prevent it?” I think about it every day.
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Abe striker tried to draw attention to church: analysts
Shooter reported Abe’s murder in letter to Unification Church critic