On Friday, July 8th, we students awoke to the very shocking news that Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been shot while campaigning out in public in Japan. We later learned that he died of his injuries. This event was so disturbing and extraordinary that those in charge of Middlebury’s Japanese language program felt the need to send out an email to all students and staff to address it. I really appreciated that they tried to capture and reflect our heavy emotions. Below is part of the content of that email:
“As many of you might already know, Abe Shinzo, the former Japanese prime minister, was fatally shot while delivering a campaign speech and was pronounced dead today at 5:03pm. In Japan, a country with extremely strict gun laws, this is a tragic occurrence, but beyond that, I think we can all commiserate with the feelings of helplessness attached to this form of violence. I am sure some of you are also shocked by this incident…The Japanese school faculty and staff alike send our deepest condolences to the family members of Abe Shinzo and keep them in our prayers.”
Throughout the day, we students discussed the matter amongst themselves. The most common sentiment was sheer surprise. One student said that because guns are so rare in Japan, the news was almost unbelievable. Our collective impression of Japan in terms of violence is that it is a relatively peaceful country where gun deaths are almost unheard of. Statistics reveal that this impression remains valid. Japanese firearm regulations are quite strict such that in all of 2018 only nine people died from firearms in Japan. Moreover, it was later revealed that Abe’s assassin used a homemade gun. So, the laws were able to keep him away from an even deadlier weapon.
While this event was incredibly tragic and sad, I still retain my impression that Japan is a generally safe place to live and that this was a violent and evil act committed by a single individual. I remain enthusiastic about my upcoming visit to Japan in 2023.