The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken has described assassinated former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe as a “man of vision”, as the country’s ruling party held muted celebrations following a resounding election victory.
The Liberal Democratic party (LDP), which Abe led for almost a decade, and its junior coalition party increased their majority in the upper house on Sunday, two days after Abe was shot during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.
The LDP and Komeito won 76 of the 125 seats being contested in an election overshadowed by the first assassination of a Japanese leader for almost 90 years.
The election in the less powerful chamber in Japan’s parliament, had no bearing on the makeup of the government, but was seen as a referendum on prime minister Fumio Kishida’s first 10 months in office amid growing regional security concerns and the cost of living crisis.
At 52% turnout was slightly up from three years earlier – a trend some analysts attributed to Abe’s death – but the coalition’s victory had been expected before he was killed.
Blinken, who had been in Bali attending a G20 meeting, said he had flown to Japan because “we’re friends, and when one friend is hurting, the other friend shows up”.
Abe, he said, “did more than anyone to elevate the relationship between the United States and Japan to new heights”.
“We will do everything we can to help our friends carry the burden of this loss,” he added, calling Abe “a man of vision with the ability to realise that vision”, after a meeting with Kishida.
A wake will be held for Abe on Monday evening at Zojoji, a large Buddhist temple in central Tokyo, followed by a private funeral on Tuesday at the same venue. Media reports said a public memorial would be held at a later date.
The suspect in Abe’s killing, Tetsuya Yamagami, has said that he targeted the politician because he believed he had connections to a religious group he blamed for bankrupting his mother.
Some Japanese media outlets have named the group as the Unification Church, which was founded in South Korea in 1954. Its members are colloquially known as “Moonies” after its founder, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Police have declined to reveal the group’s name.
Yamagami, 41, also admitted test-firing homemade guns at a facility connected to the group, according to media, but the location and nature of the test was not immediately clear.
His mother had made a “huge” donation to the group, leaving the family struggling to survive, he reportedly told police, adding that he had initially intended to kill the group’s leader in Japan but later targeted Abe.
Police found multiple homemade guns similar to the one used in Friday’s attack during a search of Yamagami’s apartment in Nara, adding that he appeared to have used online sources as a guide to making them.
The election result means that Kishida, an Abe protégé, may yet pursue his mentor’s lifelong ambition of revising Japan’s “pacifist” constitution.
While building public support for constitutional change will take time, Kishida is expected to use his party’s mandate to double defence spending amid concerns over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and increased Chinese military activity in the East and South China seas.
“He now has a green light for this, said Robert Ward at the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Kishida said Sunday’s vote had been a victory for democracy. “It is significant we were able to pull this election together at a time violence was shaking its foundations,” he said after a moment of silence was held at the LDP headquarters on Sunday night.
Abe’s death at the hands of a gunman who was able to wander freely behind his target as he addressed a small group of voters has prompted criticism of his security arrangements.
The head of police in the Nara region has admitted that there were “undeniable” flaws, and on Monday, the government’s top spokesman, Hirokazu Matsuno, said he expected a full investigation into security loopholes on the day of the attack.
