I was just listening to a discussion of the assassination this morning (my morning). Apparently Japan has up until now been so bereft of political violence that it is common for even prominent politicians like Abe to have minimal security and maximum exposure to their constituents. There have certainly been protests before, but they didn't descend into violence. In terms of gun deaths overall, they typically number in the double or single digits per year for the entire country. Unfortunately, this will likely mark a change in how Japanese politicians interface with their citizens.

[–] foxglove@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

I don't get why people think Japan is bereft of political violence. It's been a steady occurrence since the early 20th century (history: https://theconversation.com/shinzo-abes-killing-the-history-of-political-violence-in-japan-186679). Here are some recent occurrences from this article:

1990: Motoshima Hitoshi, was also the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt by a right-wing extremist over public comments he made regarding Emperor Hirohito’s war responsibility https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-18-mn-323-story.html
2006: Senior Liberal Democratic Party politician Katō Kōichi’s home was subject to an arson attack by a right-winger angered by comments Katō had made critical of prime minister Koizumi Junichirō’s visit to Yasukuni shrine. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/06/01/national/kato-home-arson-nets-rightist-eight-year-term/

[–] pingveno@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Fair enough. Maybe I'm mostly thinking of how they compare with the US and its poor record in this area. Seems like a lot of this comes from ultra-nationalists of some stripe, no?

[–] foxglove@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

While nationalistic ideologues seem to dominate the political violence in Japan and the US, it's a bit disingenuous to assign blanket statements to these things.

[–] pingveno@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

As I said, a lot, not all.