Japan remembers Shinzo Abe on first anniversary of former PM's assassination

Japan on Saturday marked one year since former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead during an election speech by a man angry at his links to the Unification Church.

The killing of Japan's longest-serving prime minister, which was caught on video, rocked a nation unused to gun violence.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other senior officials and lawmakers joined Mr Abe's widow, Akie, at a private memorial service at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo.

People queued to offer flowers at the temple after the service ended, as well as at the site of the assassination in the southern city of Nara.

Among them was Tsuu Ogawa, 49, a hotel worker, who had been celebrating her birthday on the day Mr Abe was assassinated.

“I was shocked that such a terrible thing as this could happen in Japan, and I pray that such a thing never happens again,” she said.

Mr Abe is remembered for pursuing economic policies aimed at ending years of deflation, including aggressive monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and deregulation. Critics said those measures also opened up an income gap.

The former prime minister, who stepped down in 2020, also championed an aggressive defence policy that increased military spending and reinterpreted Japan's war-renouncing constitution to allow Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time since the Second World War.

“I will support politicians who carry on the work of Abe's administration,” said Atsuhiro Ueda, a 35-year-old office worker, as he joined others at the temple.

Crowds mourn Shinzo Abe at his funeral

While Mr Kishida has stepped back from Mr Abe's economic agenda, he has maintained his predecessor's hawkish policies, announcing last year that Japan would double defence spending.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mr Kishida said he had tackled policies that could not be delayed, “as a way of honouring Mr Abe's last wishes”.

“I will keep working at it to fulfil my responsibilities,” he said.

Mr Abe's death triggered a public backlash against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after close links between it and the Unification Church came to light.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, who has yet to stand trial, is suspected of using a handmade firearm fashioned out of metal and wood to kill the 67-year-old politician. In social media posts before the shooting, he blamed the Unification Church for leaving his mother in financial difficulty.

Known globally for its mass weddings, the South Korean church has been blamed for causing financial hardship by seeking large donations from its followers.

Revelations that Mr Abe and more than half of all LDP lawmakers had links to the church, with some accepting donations or using its followers as election workers, prompted high-level resignations, including that of Economic Revitalisation Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa.

Although Mr Kishida was not among them, his public support slumped in the aftermath of the scandal.

Mr Abe's killing also sparked a national outcry over lapses in security. Police tightened their protective measures following an investigation that found shortcomings in how the former prime minister was guarded.

In April, concern about political violence erupted again after a man threw what appeared to be a pipe bomb at Mr Kishida during an appearance in western Japan. He was unhurt.