Shinzo Abe is gone, but his controversial vision for Japan lives on

Sunday’s elections delivered a landslide victory for the assassinated leader's party. Years after he left office, his dream of amending Japan’s constitution is getting closer, writes Jeff Kingston

Police inspect a sidewalk near the site where former Japanese premier Shinzo Abe was fatally shot in Nara, western Japan. Picture: Kyodo News via AP

The assassination of Shinzo Abe still hasn’t really sunk in, but the tremors are rippling across Japan and the world. 

He was shot from behind in a nation where firearm-related homicides are rare: in 2021, there was just one, compared with more than 20,000 in the US. It was an assault on democracy and an act of barbarism.