Fumio Kishida said officials from the National Public Safety Commission and the National Police Service were investigating what went wrong and would come up with measures to improve. He said: “I urge them to fix what needs to be fixed while studying examples in other countries.” Mr Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, was assassinated last week in the western city of Nara. Mr. Kishida also announced plans to hold a state funeral for Mr. Abe later this year, noting his contributions domestically and strengthening Japan’s security alliance with the United States. Image: Shinzo Abe Abe was shot with an improvised weapon while giving a campaign speech outside a political rally on Friday. He suffered two neck wounds and died a few hours after the attack. Photos and video of the shooting show the alleged gunman managed to get close to Mr. Abe. A suspect, identified by police as 41-year-old Yamagami Tetsuya, was arrested at the scene and is being held for questioning. Police said he told investigators he shot Mr. Abe because of a rumored relationship between the former leader and a religious group he hated. A government spokesman said it would review possible handgun regulations. Tomoaki Onizuka, the Nara prefectural police chief, said: “We cannot deny that there were problems with the security plan given how things ended. “I feel a great sense of responsibility.” Itaru Nakamura, commissioner general of the National Police Service, expressed regret over the killing. He told a news conference: “We failed in our responsibility to protect officials. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:32 Queues in Japan to pay tribute to Abe “We take this very seriously. “My responsibility at this stage is to devote all my efforts to reviewing (the incident) so that police departments across the country can learn from the review to prevent similar incidents from ever happening again.” The assassination, the first of a former Japanese prime minister since the 1930s, shocked the nation. Political violence is rare in Japan, which has strict gun regulations.
