As teenager Kenta Takahashi gathered with a crowd of mourners to pay tribute to Shinzo Abe at the site where he was shot on Friday, he recalled the precious few minutes when he got to meet his idol in person.
The 13-year-old had the rare chance to meet Mr Abe two weeks ago while the former prime minister was on the hustings, supporting candidates from his political party ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections.
The pair briefly talked, with the former prime minister offering some kind words of advice before fist-bumping with the teen in a moment that Kenta will cherish forever.
"I told him that I play baseball," he told the ABC, before holding up his phone to show a selfie the pair took together on his phone
"He cheered for me and told me to do my best."
On Friday, the young teen was in shock after hearing his hero had been fatally shot while giving another campaign speech in the city of Nara.
He rushed to the scene of the attack, near Yamato-Saidaiji station, to lay flowers with his mum.
They joined many others — young and old — who quickly gathered at the site to pay their respects.
Some came to pray as others knelt down on the street, openly crying as they mourned the loss of one of Japan's most well-known politicians.
"[Mr Abe] said to me, 'If you remember me when I visit again, I'll remember you, so please come talk to me,'" Kenta said.
After Abe collapsed, there was 'commotion and confusion'
Eyewitnesses described hearing two loud bangs just before midday before seeing Mr Abe collapse.
A 41-year-old man was quickly tackled to the ground by police, while onlookers tried desperately to help the former prime minister.
Witness Takenobu Nakajima told the ABC he "quite liked" Mr Abe, so decided to watch his campaign speech at a road intersection.
He took his camera out to film some highlights.
What he captured was the assassination of a former prime minister.
His vision, which has been broadcast widely, shows a large puff of smoke emerging from behind Mr Abe, before the 67-year-old collapses.
"There were two gunshots," Mr Nakajima told the ABC.
Mr Abe was rushed to Nara Medical University but doctors said he had no vital signs on arrival at the hospital.
Doctors pronounced him dead at 6pm AEST, despite emergency treatment that included multiple blood transfusions.
"The news has made me teary," one young woman said.
"It happened so suddenly that I can't believe it," another woman told the ABC.
"I deeply feel we lost someone very important to Japan."
Residents say they 'can't forgive such an act'
Despite leaving politics, Mr Abe has remained a major figure within his former party, the Liberal Democrat Party. He was delivering a speech on Friday as part of the party's campaign for upper house elections.
Mr Abe, who was Japan's longest-serving prime minister, held office for one year in 2006.
He was then prime minister from 2012 to 2020, and is widely regarded as the country's most important leader since World War II.
Police said the suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, admitted to wanting to kill Mr Abe, falsely believing he was connected to a religious organisation he held a grudge against.
The suspect was unemployed but reportedly served in Japan's navy.
Gun violence is incredibly rare in Japan, and the country has strict gun controls.
Questions are now being asked about how a person was able to gain the tools necessary to carry out such a deadly attack.
"I can't forgive such an act," Kenta said.
"It was good that they caught the man."
