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The assassination of Japanese former prime minister Shinzo Abe by a lone unemployed youth was totally unexpected. Read any news media reports, and the reporters do not fail to mention that gun violence in Japanese society is really rare.
Assassination in Japan! It sounds unbelievable, like girls wearing bikini in Afghanistan! In a harmonious nation of gentle nerds who never mind waiting in a mile-long queue every day, murdering a high-profile politician in public view is extraordinary.
Astonishingly, the homemade gun recovered from the assailant is said to have been manufactured using 3D print-ing, a Japanese invention - probably the first murder in the world using a 3D printed gun.
Terrorists all over the world, from Jihadists to Neo Nazis, are suddenly taking a keen interest in this incident.
Japan. What comes to our mind when somebody mentions that country? Mt. Fuji, ramen noodles, robots, bullet trains, manga, sushi, kimono, Sony, Toyota? All these are gentle reminders that Japan is a peaceful and progressive nation.
An industrial power and inventor of many delightful inventions like the Walkman, LED, and karaoke. But, wait a minute - what about Samurai, hara-kiri, suicidal kamikaze, yakuza mafia and pre-emptive attack on America in World War II? All these are reminders that Japan has a dark side, too, which is rarely reported by the media. A dark side which is slowly consuming this ancient Shinto society like a black hole consuming a dying star.
Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the OECD.
There are millions of lonely and loveless youths who are neglected by the conformist society.
In Japan, those men are known as Hikikomori. Those lonely youths are mostly unemployed, untrained and half-educated.
They do not socialise much. Once a Hikikomori starved himself to death inside his empty apartment.
Hikikomori youths have a grudge and hatred for their society.
In some ways these individuals are the victims of high expectations from life and the world. Much like the muchhyped 'Paris syndrome'. Once they begin to realise that their life will never be so special or extraordinary, they become socially withdrawn. It is possible that the assailant who killed Shinzo Abe was a Hikikomori.
Sometimes they just wish to be noticed. On the surface, Japan appears like a perfect fusion of ultra-modernity and traditionalism.
Age-old traditions of Shinto rituals coexist with Western consumerism. But beneath the surface, there are fault lines in Japanese society. Like those infamous volcanoes and earthquakes which are unexpected and unpredictable, so are the Japanese people.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 14, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
