The shooting of Abe has prompted shock and condemnation both in Japan and overseas.
Fatal attacks on national figures have been rare in Japan's post-war history. Below is a list of some of them:
In 1960, Nobusuke Kishi, then-prime minister and Abe's maternal grandfather, was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant affiliated with right-wing groups. The assailant's motivation was not clear. Kishi survived because the blade missed major arteries.
The same year, Japan Socialist Party leader Inejiro Asanuma was stabbed to death at a political rally by a right-wing youth.
In 1990, former labour minister Hyosuke Niwa died of wounds inflicted by a deranged man, and then Nagasaki city major Hitoshi Motoshima was seriously injured after being shot by a right-winger.
Another Nagasaki mayor Iccho Itoh was shot and killed in 2007 by a member of an organised crime group.
In 1992, a right-wing gunman fired shots at the Liberal Democratic Party's then vice president Shin Kanemaru when he was wrapping up a speech. Kanemaru was uninjured.
In 1994, there was an attempted shooting of then prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa by a right-wing extremist, but Hosokawa was unharmed.
In 1996, Yoshiro Yanagawa, outspoken mayor of a small town Mitake was attacked at home and seriously injured. Police suspected organised crime in the bludgeoning of Yanagawa.
In 2002, Democratic Party MP Kouki Ishiii was stabbed in front of his house by a right-wing group representative and died.
The office and home of Koichi Kato, former secretary-general of Liberal Democratic Party were set on fire and burned down in 2006.
