Photo/Illutration People pray and leave flowers on July 9 near the Kintetsu Line's Yamato-Saidaiji Station where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot the previous day. (Jin Nishioka)

A 72-year-old Nara resident was among the steady stream of mourners who placed flowers and watermelon juice that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe loved on a special stand set up in Nara on July 9. 

The man saw the helicopter that flew Abe to Nara Medical University Hospital the previous day after he was gunned down while giving a campaign speech at the Kintetsu Line’s Yamato-Saidaiji Station.

“It is so mortifying and sad to have such an incident occur in my beloved Nara,” he said.

A steady procession of people on July 9 mourned the shooting death of Abe at the scene of the crime, around his Tokyo home and in his home constituency in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

A 27-year-old company employee from Kyoto brought watermelon juice with him to place on the stand in Nara. He said he could get a job at the company of his first choice because Abenomics measures pushed by Abe when he was prime minister had stabilized the economy.

“I have nothing but gratitude toward him,” the man said. “I hope he rests in peace.”

Mourners brought flowers and other offerings from the previous day.

A 21-year-old university student stopped by after classes on July 8.

“While there were various criticisms about him, it is so sad that he came to this end after serving as prime minister for so long,” the male student said. “I cannot believe that a terrorist act, or something that might occur overseas, has occurred not only in Japan, but in my hometown.”

A 16-year-old senior high school student who uses the station to go to cram school described the shooting as “the greatest desecration of democracy.”

He added that other politicians often gave speeches in front of the station and that it looked difficult to ensure complete security since a speaker was visible from all angles.

A female company employee living in Nara said she was 41, the same age as the suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami.

Those in their generation faced difficulties in finding jobs right out of university and she worried whether others with bottled-up stress and frustration might take similar violent action.

At about 9 p.m. on July 8, a number of officials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party gathered up the flowers for delivery to Abe’s home in Tokyo.

At about 10:40 p.m. on July 8, a Taiwanese woman who lives in Koryo, Nara Prefecture, placed a bouquet at the emergency entrance to Nara Medical University Hospital where Abe was taken earlier that day.

With tears in her eyes, she prayed and said, “I loved and respected Abe-san. I am terribly sad.”

Abe’s neighbors in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward mourned for the fallen former prime minister on July 9.

Naofumi Osada, 74, was out on his morning walk when he stopped in front of the Abe home and bowed.

“I cannot believe something like this actually happened,” Osada said. “I am worried that this might send the wrong message that society can be changed through violence.”

Mourners also visited Abe’s office in Shimonoseki from the morning of July 9. Staff were planning to set up a table for flowers later in the day.

A 54-year-old female supporter of Abe brought flowers and said, “He often took part in local events and I loved his smile. I felt I had to come because I was just so surprised that something like this happened.”

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