Assassin says he believed Abe belonged to a "specific organization" - maybe religious

[muriel_volestrangler]

Assassination suspect admits targeting Japan’s Shinzo Abe: Police

The suspected killer of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe admitted targeting the politician and said he held a grudge against an organisation he believed Abe was connected to, police have said.
...
Police said it was not clear if the “particular organisation” mentioned by the suspect actually existed, adding that investigations were continuing, but several Japanese media outlets described the organisation as a religious group.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/8/assassination-suspect-admits-targeting-japans-shinzo-abe-police

Sounding like the killer was reading crazy QAnon-type stuff online.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

1. Not a bit. And the "organization" in question is no mystery.

Shinzo Abe was a founding member of an ultranationalist organization called Nippon Kaigi which was linked to a fanatical strain of Shintoism that wanted to restore Japan to its pre-WWII (fascist) values.

[irisblue]

2. ⏫⏫⏫⏫⏫ added info

From Abe wiki..."Abe was a conservative whom political commentators widely described as a right-wing Japanese nationalist.[5][6][7][8][9] A member of the Nippon Kaigi,[10] he held negationist views on Japanese history,[11] including denying the role of government coercion in the recruitment of comfort women during World War II,[12] a position which created tension particularly with neighboring South Korea."
more there.


Abe membership in Nippon Kaigi is mentioned in his obituary here...https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/shinzo-abe-shot-japan-former-prime-minister-1379700/

snip-" Long considered a right-wing member of the conservative LDP, Abe was known for his strong ties to Nippon Kaigi — a controversial far-right, ultranationalist lobbying group that holds strong influence over Japanese politics — and controversial views on Japanese war crimes, including the forced sexual slavery of so-called “comfort women during World War II."

[malaise]

3. Weren't his father and grandfather part of that as well? N/t

[Just A Box Of Rain]

4. Abe's Grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, died before the formal founding of Nippon Kaigi.

But Nobusuke Kishi was a notorious fascist war criminal who brutally ran the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (Chinese Manchuria) during the 1930s and who served in Tojo's Cabinet during the war.

Kishi was arrested as a "suspected" (and certainly guilty) Class A war criminal by the US after the war, but the was not charged (as US officials decided Kishi would be useful in helping to defeat Japan's Socialist Party. Kishi went on to become Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960.

Although not a member of Nippon Kaigi, Kishi would have clearly held similar values.

[malaise]

5. I know they were useful tools

Modi in India is another monster

[Just A Box Of Rain]

6. Modi is indeed a monster.

His RSS/BJP is entirely inspired by fascism (in the Hindu-nationalist variation).

This crap lurks in most societies, I'm afraid. The rest of the time it is more obvious.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Are you saying it's been confirmed that the organization was Nippon Kaigi?

Or just that he was known to be a member of that? It wouldn't seem reasonable for the police to question whether that existed.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. More: his family gave money to the group

A man who was arrested in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 8 told investigators that he harbored a “grudge” against him, citing a religious organization, investigative sources said.

“My family joined that religion and our life became harder after donating money to the organization,” Tetsuya Yamagami, who is unemployed, was quoted by the sources as telling police. “I had wanted to target the top official of the organization, but it was difficult. So, I took aim at Abe since I believed that he was tied (to the organization). I wanted to kill him.”
...
A man who identified himself as a relative of Yamagami told The Asahi Shimbun that his family had trouble with the religious organization.

“His family fell apart due to the group,” the man said. “I am convinced that Yamagami suffered damage from the organization."

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14665352

A man under arrest for allegedly shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a stump speech here has told police that he intended to target a senior official of a religious group, sources close to the case have told the Mainichi Shimbun.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, a resident of the city of Nara who was arrested at the scene on July 8 on suspicion of attempted murder, has admitted to the allegations against him, according to the sources.

During questioning, the suspect cited the name of a specific religious group and said, "I intended to target this senior official (of the group)." The named official, however, was reportedly not at the scene at the time.

At the same time, the suspect has made nonsensical statements, and Nara Prefectural Police are carefully investigating whether he is mentally competent to be held criminally responsible.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220708/p2a/00m/0na/030000c

The suspect arrested at the scene of Friday’s shooting, Tetsuya Yamagami, told police that he initially planned to attack the leader of a religious group to which his mother had donated money, causing her to go bankrupt, the Kyodo news agency said, quoting investigative sources.

Yamagami, a 41-year old resident of Nara, said he was also “dissatisfied” with Abe, whom he accused of promoting the group, adding that he had not targeted the politician because he disagreed with his politics.

The suspect had earlier said he bore a grudge against a “specific organisation” and believed Abe was part of it, although police have declined to name the group and it is not clear if it exists.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/09/shinzo-abe-body-tokyo-japan-election-campaign-nara