From Japan's Longest-Serving Prime Minister to a 'Tragic Hero': Who Is Abe?

Japan's Leading Right-Wing Politician
Maintains a Hardline Stance on Diplomacy and Security
Actively Promotes Economic Policy Known as 'Abenomics'

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe [Photo by AP]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in Japan's constitutional history, was shot during an election support rally on the 8th and died at the age of 67. As the first Japanese prime minister born after World War II and the grandson of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, an A-class war criminal, he was a leading right-wing politician in Japan who led relations with South Korea to their worst state.

◆ Served as Japanese Prime Minister for a total of 8 years and 9 months... Acted as 'Retired Emperor' after resignation

Former Prime Minister Abe was the grandson of former Prime Minister Kishi, who served as Minister of Commerce and Industry in the cabinet of Hideki Tojo, who initiated the Pacific War. His father, Shin'taro Abe, served as Foreign Minister in the cabinet of Yasuhiro Nakasone, and his younger brother, Nobuo Kishi, is currently the Minister of Defense. Abe entered politics in 1982 as his father's secretary and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1993 after inheriting his electoral district.

Abe was Japan's longest-serving prime minister with a total tenure of 8 years and 9 months over two terms, amounting to 3,188 days in office. He first took office in 2006 at the age of 52 as the youngest postwar prime minister but resigned early after one year. Five years later, in December 2012, Abe succeeded in returning to power and served continuously for 7 years and 9 months until his resignation in September 2020 due to health issues. After resigning, he remained a member of the House of Representatives.

Having stepped down from the prime ministership due to ulcerative colitis, he continued to act as the leader of the largest faction within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), effectively serving as a 'Retired Emperor.' He played a decisive role in the rise of his successors, former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. In particular, Abe was behind Kishida's victory in the LDP presidential election in September last year, where Kishida defeated Taro Kono, then Minister for Administrative Reform and the most favored candidate among voters.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (center) is seen walking out after paying a direct visit to Yasukuni Shrine on April 21. Since his resignation in September 2020, former Prime Minister Abe has visited Yasukuni Shrine during the spring and autumn grand festivals and on the anniversary of the end of the Pacific War (August 15). [Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Ultimately failed in his 'long-cherished goal' of constitutional revision... Abeconomics yielded limited results

Abe maintained a hardline stance in diplomacy and security. During his tenure, he visited the Yasukuni Shrine, where A-class war criminals are enshrined, drawing criticism from South Korea and China, and later replaced visits with offerings. He retaliated against South Korea's court rulings on forced labor during Japan's colonial rule by imposing semiconductor export restrictions in 2019, severely worsening relations with South Korea. His return to power is also seen as having intensified the rightward shift in Japanese society.

At the same time, Abe made constitutional revision to explicitly recognize the Self-Defense Forces his lifelong mission, but due to worsening public opinion and the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, he was unable to achieve this goal and stepped down. Upon his formal return to the Hosoda faction, the largest faction within the LDP, in November last year after about nine years, he immediately raised the constitutional revision issue as his first statement, declaring that "constitutional revision has been a party principle since the founding of the LDP," signaling his intention to lead the discussion.

Abe actively promoted economic policies known as 'Abenomics' to overcome the long-term recession called the 'Lost 20 Years.' Starting in 2013, he poured economic policies aimed at revitalizing the economy, led by the 'three arrows' of aggressive fiscal expansion, unlimited monetary easing, and corporate innovation. However, his goal of escaping deflation did not achieve significant results, and global factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic further hindered progress.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.