Tokyo (AP) — Japanese political and business leaders on Saturday marked one year since the assassination of former leader Shinzo Abe, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledging to tackle pressing political goals as a way of honoring Abe’s wishes.
At a Buddhist temple Zojoji in Tokyo, Kishida and his governing Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers, as well as representatives from opposition parties and business leaders, attended a closed memorial service hosted by Abe’s widow Akie Abe and the family. Tables were set up at the temple for flower laying by the public later Saturday.
Abe was assassinated on July 8, 2022, during an election campaign speech.
The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested at the scene and was charged with murder and several other crimes, including violating the gun control law. A date for his trial hasn’t been set.
Yamagami has told investigators that he killed Abe, one of Japan‘s most influential and divisive politicians, because of the former prime minister’s apparent links to a religious group that he hated. In statements and in social media postings attributed to him, Yamagami said he developed a grudge because his mother had made massive donations to the Unification Church that bankrupted his family and ruined his life.
At a separate memorial Saturday attended by governing party lawmakers and conservative academics, Kishida recalled Abe used to cheer him up when he was struggling…
