Article #26
A Brief Biography
Shinzo Abe, born in September 1954, was a very influential and powerful politician in Japan. Born into a family with a long line of Japanese politicians, he made history when he lead Japan as prime minister for about 8 consecutive years. A reign that begin in the year 2012 and ended in August 2020 due to significant problems with this health. This time frame was about a year prior to the set time that he was to leave office. Thlengththg of time was considered to be a great feat because of Japan’s high turnover rates in this position.
Elected to a Parliamentary Seat
In 1993, after the death of his father, Shinzo Abe was elected to Parliament. However, his first major high-levelvel role did not come until the year 2000. It was at this time that Abe was appointed to the position of Deputy Chief Secretary for the Liberal Democratic Party.
In this position, Mr. Abe met with Kim Jong-il, a North Korean leader in an effort to negotiate the release of 5 Japanese abductees in 2002. Abe played a key role at that time by accompanying Junichiro Koizuma, a maverick prime minister that was very popular among the Japan citizens. The 5 abductees were sent back to Japan safely after the negotiations were complete.
Domestic Policies
When in office, he was able to push through a number of different types of legislation. One of the most notable, even though encountering great opposition from others on the political spectrum, involved passing legislation that authorized combat missions overseas.
His economic policies were also considered to be very problematic, however, for the people of Japan in many different ways. With the use of Abenomics, he rushed in a massive increase in the national debt that was a result of Japan’s government spending vast amounts of money on a wide variety of stimulus projects. Many politicians refused to support Shinzo Abe’ s economic policies (Abenomics) because of its overall focus on cheap cash, increasing Japan’s debt, and getting rid of certain regulations for Japan’s corporations.
The primary goal and objective in making sure that his platform succeeded were to make women a huge part of this process. As he pushed to empower women, his agenda was met with resistance and did not come to fruition within his life time. For instance, his plan, Womenomics, was to counteract an aging workforce that was quickly growing by drastically increasing the number of women in the workforce. These numbers would be drastically increased for women that held positions in the government and in management positions.
International Stage
During his leadership as prime minister, Shinzo Abe was also known for having a very strong visible role on the international stage. He was noted as having close relationships with both President Trump and Barack Obama. His record shows that he hosted each of these Amerian Presidents at different times during his tenure. And, was also focused on improving relationships with China’s leader, President Xi Jinping in the year 2018.
Additionally, to settle the ownership rights of 4 contested Islands that are located in the north of his country, he met on dozens of occasions with Vladimir Putin (Russia’s president). This is a territorial dispute that fell and was not resolved before his assassination.
Continued Contentious Relationship with South Korea
Although he had a constant eye on the global world around him, he was still very much aware of his nationalistic agenda that he had planned for Japan. In 2012, he made an appearance at the Yasukuni Shrine, which is the place where the Japanese honor their war dead. This was a gesture that he avoided doing again because he did not feel that Japan owed South Korea or China a sincere apology for the atrocities that occurred during this time of war.
Therefore, under his tenure, his relations with South Korea suffered greatly. And, this resulted in his approval points falling to its lowest within his time in office. This is because both countries argued over how Japan could atone for this time period in history. Up until his death, he only acknowledged the suffering of the past but never formally gave a public personal apology for his country’s role in this war.
Political Career Plagued By Scandals
Some people refer to his reign in 2007 as the rise and fall of his power. This is because his cabinet was plagued by scandal and the people lost trust in him as their prime minister. The polls were also reflective of a huge power loss because of the problems that existed.
It was also during this time that his health was at risk. He was diagnosed with a bowel disease that is known as ulcerative colitis. Therefore, he was forced to resign abruptly in 2007, and his party was left in shambles as a result. There was also a major shift in power from the liberals to conservatives.
Working Behind the Scenes
Even though Mr. Abe lost his position of power as a prime minister, he still worked behind the scenes with the powerful influence that he had acquired. Yoshidide Sugar was his successor because he was handpicked by Shinzo Abe as he stepped down from this role. In fact, his main goal and objective were to pick anyone (i.e. Sane Takaishi) who could beat out his chief rival from assuming this position. This is because he still garnered enough influence and power to have a major impact on Japan’s government.
Assassination
On Friday, July 8, 2022, at the age of 67, Shinzo Abe was assassinated at a political event in Nara, Japan. The gunman was caught by the police and interrogated for his actions. According to the latest report, the gunman held a grudge against Abe and his parties political views. The police believe that he acted alone instead of on behalf of an activist group that opposed what he stood for.
Shinzo Abe leaves a wife, Akie Matsuzak and two brothers, Hironobu Abe and Nobuo Kishi to mourn his loss.
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