With two shots from a homemade firearm, a disturbed individual cut down Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, as he campaigned for his political party ahead of parliamentary elections. During his second and longest stint as prime minister, from 2012 to 2020, Abe was a forceful world figure, taking up a regional trade deal when the Trump administration withdrew and working to resurrect Japan’s military after it was all but abolished after World War II. He made serious mistakes, including a stubborn refusal to accept the totality of Japan’s responsibility for war crimes committed i…
