Photo/Illutration Mourners pray for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a flower stand set up near Kintetsu Railway Co.’s Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara on July 8. (Emiko Arimoto)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to continue efforts to realize policy goals championed by his slain predecessor Shinzo Abe, who was fatally shot on the campaign trail two years ago.

“Living the days that Abe could not live, we must pass on his thoughts and aspirations to the next generation,” Kishida told about 600 people in Tokyo on July 7 at a meeting organized by conservative lawmakers’ groups to commemorate Abe.

He cited ending deflation, strengthening diplomatic and security policies, revising the Constitution and ensuring a stable imperial succession as key policy issues that were left unfinished when the former prime minister was killed in Nara on July 8, 2022.

Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, also emphasized the importance of realizing constitutional revisions and a stable imperial succession.

Sanae Takaichi, minister in charge of economic security, said Abe’s economic policies, known as “Abenomics,” were “absolutely correct.”

At the end of the meeting, Abe’s widow, Akie, said, “My husband was aiming to achieve a proud Japan. I hope the people of Japan will once again think about what that is.”

Abe was gunned down with a homemade firearm when he was campaigning for an LDP candidate in an Upper House election in front of Kintetsu Railway Co.’s Yamato-Saidaiji Station.

The first hearing for 43-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, accused of murdering Abe and other crimes, is not expected to be held until next year.

Many people from in and outside Nara Prefecture braved the blistering heat to offer flowers at a stand set up in front of Yamato-Saidaiji Station on the second anniversary of Abe’s death.

Mourners observed a silent prayer around 11:30 a.m., roughly the time when Abe was shot.

“To carry out one's own will through violence is nothing but terrorism,” a 65-year-old man from Kobe said about Yamagami. “It conveys the wrong idea about democracy.”

A 77-year-old woman from Habikino, Osaka Prefecture, said, “A precious person was lost. It is a shame.”

She added that she wants to hear about the suspect’s motives in detail during the trial.

Yamagami told police that he targeted Abe because of his close ties with the Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

He said he developed a grudge because the massive donations that his mother, a follower, made to the church ruined his life.

A two-year anniversary memorial service was held on July 8 at Choanji temple in Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the Abe family's grave stands.

Akie Abe, Yamaguchi Governor Tsugumasa Muraoka and others attended. 

About 20 Diet members who belong to the LDP faction once headed by Abe also paid their respects at the Abe family's grave, where Abe's ashes were placed in July last year. 

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