Japan on Wednesday marked the fourth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with mourners gathering at the site where he was fatally shot while campaigning in the city of Nara.
About 1,000 people visited a floral tribute stand set up near Yamato-Saidaiji Station, where Abe was killed on July 8, 2022, during a campaign speech ahead of upper-house elections. Mourners observed a moment of silence at 11:31 a.m., the time of the attack. His widow, Akie Abe, said in an interview that not a day goes by without her thinking of him. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed condolences in a post on X, while Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara praised Abe's economic legacy.
The gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, was sentenced to life in prison by the Nara District Court in January. He has appealed the ruling, with the appellate trial to be heard at the Osaka High Court. The lower court declined to weigh the defendant's personal background as a mitigating factor in its sentencing.