What looked to be a once-in-a-generation event threatens to become a new trend.
When Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was brutally slain on the campaign trail last year, it seemed a freak event. While assassination attempts were familiar in the pre- and immediate postwar Japan, it had been decades since since such a prominent politician was the subject of attack, particularly in a largely gun-free country where crime rates are low.
On Saturday, what now looks to be a near-miss attempt to attack Prime Minister Fumio Kishida not only brought back memories of Abe’s slaying, it underscores the risk of amplifying his killer’s message. And it raises uncomfortable questions over security arrangements for the Group of Seven summit that will be held next month in Kishida’s home constituency of Hiroshima.