Following the shooting of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has decided to continue campaigning as scheduled in advance of upcoming upper house elections, local media have reported.

In a speech in Yamanashi Prefecture on Saturday, Kishida stressed that he would not "give in to violence," before traveling to Niigata Prefecture.

Former prime minister Yoshihide Suga expressed his condolences on Saturday over Abe's death and strongly condemned the shooting.