The death of Shinzo Abe, namesake of Japan's Abenomics policy, makes any immediate challenge to his legacy highly unlikely but could eventually allow Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to phase out Abe's government spending and monetary stimulus.
In a rare act of political violence that shocked the nation, Japan's longest-serving prime minister was gunned down on Friday while campaigning for Sunday's parliamentary election, where his party's coalition expanded their Upper House majority.
Kishida is unlikely to do anything immediately that could antagonize lawmakers loyal to Abe, who led the biggest faction in Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party after stepping down as prime minister in 2020, analysts say.