Japan has made little progress in taking legal measures to regulate online videos and websites showing how to make guns and explosives, despite a full year passing since the fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
While the National Police Agency has asked the industry ministry, which is responsible for the law on weapons production, to consider regulating such videos and websites, the ministry has rebutted by saying that efforts by the police are sufficient.
On July 8, 2022, Abe was shot and killed while delivering a stump speech in the city of Nara. The suspected attacker, Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, has been indicted on murder and other charges. Yamagami used a homemade gun for the attack.