Teared, citizens pay tribute to former Prime Minister Abe, a day after the assassination.

People from all walks of life formed a long line Saturday on the road where Abe was shot after being attacked with firearms at an event in the city of Nara.

Abe, 67, was giving an election speech when he was shot with two bullets.

The clouds did not prevent crowds coming to express their condolences, where some had traveled long distances like 51-year-old Yoshikazu Tokudome, who flew hundreds of miles from the Tokyo region to the town of Nara.

I just had pain and thought the least I could do was come here and place some flowers”, he told AFP.

When he heard of Abe's death, Japan's longest-lived prime minister, he said that “I could understand what was said in the news, but I just couldn't accept”.

Visitors like Tokudome bent down with their eyes closed, some crying while putting flowers on a table in a tent set up near the Yamato-Saidaji station.

It's just shocking and I'm very sad. I felt very worried at home,” said Sumiko Hayashi, 50 years old.

I also loved him as a person”, she said, especially “ways he looked so happy with his wife”.

The bouquet after bouquet gathered on the table, it became an improvised altar decorated by the frame pictures and cartoon illustrations of a smiling Abe who was forced to resign in 2020 because of poor health.

Beer bottles and other drinks were also put on the table for the politician to enjoy in the afterlife, but the prevailing mood was grim.

Clearing the tears, 52-year-old Kayoko Weda, from the nearby Osaka region, told AFP that she was “concerned” and that she could not believe something like that could happen in Japan.

The murder has sparked the investigation into whether Abbe's speech was sufficient.

“Security was weak. She exposed, I think, how Japan was alone, thinking everything was safe here,” said Weda.

Akira Takahashi, a 54-year-old resident in Osaka, thought the same way.

High-ranking foreign officials, such as prime ministers and cabinet members, often visit Japan with the assumption that this is a secure”, Takahashi said.

But I think security should be much stronger in the future”.

With tears in my eyes, Takahashi said that while setting flowers, “I said “thank you for everything and please rest in peace”.