Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida faced a security incident.
4/4/2023 Asia/Pan Pacific/Australia News By PingWang
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The attempted attack on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, less than a year after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 8, 2022, highlights a series of issues in Japanese society.
Japan is known for having one of the strictest gun control policies in the world, with stringent requirements for individuals seeking firearm licenses. Even with a license, it is illegal to possess handguns in Japan. Prior to these incidents, Japan was considered a safe and stable country. The occurrence of these assassination attempts raises questions about how such incidents could happen in a country with strict gun control measures in place.
On April 15th, Wu Yingjie, a researcher at the Japan Research Center of the National (Beijing) Academy of Open Economy and Global Affairs at the University of International Business and Economics, pointed out to Time Finance that "in the past three years, Japan's economy has experienced long-term stagnation, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, leading to high inflation, depreciation of the yen, and rising unemployment. As a result, it has fostered some extreme dissatisfaction with politicians."
Wu Yingjie also mentioned that street speeches are a traditional form of voter interaction in Japanese political culture. "During elections and campaign periods, politicians would give street speeches in various locations to convey their policies and ideas to voters, in order to garner votes and support." Wu Yingjie believes that after the assassination of Shinzo Abe and the incident involving Fumio Kishida, politicians and society have reflected on and discussed the safety issues and contradictions surrounding street speeches.
As a result, the format of street speeches may undergo changes or see a reduction in their frequency in the future.