Immediately after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down on Friday morning while stumping in the city of Nara, Japanese media outlets rose to the occasion and provided up-to-the-minute news on the shocking incident throughout the day.
Yet a peculiarity remains. While much of the Western press has described the death of Japan¡¯s longest-serving prime minister as an ¡°assassination,¡± all of Japan¡¯s major dailies ran identical headlines on their front pages on Saturday: ¡°Former PM Abe dies after being shot.¡± Broadcasters such as NHK and other TV stations have done the same, seemingly avoiding the word ¡°assassination.¡±
Describing the murder of Abe as a ¡°death¡± may not be inaccurate, but it does not clarify whether his passing was caused by a premeditated attack, an accidental shooting or even collateral damage from a shooting incident.
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