Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe (1954–2022) was a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politician who shaped Japanese foreign and economic policy for more than a decade. The grandson of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, Abe first led Japan from September 2006 to September 2007 before resigning due to health issues. He returned to power in December 2012 after the LDP defeated the Democratic Party of Japan, and served continuously until September 2020, when ulcerative colitis again forced his resignation. By tenure he is the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history.

Abe's economic program, commonly called "Abenomics," rested on "three arrows": aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan under Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, flexible fiscal stimulus, and structural reform. The consumption tax was raised from 5% to 8% in 2014 and to 10% in 2019.

In foreign policy Abe pursued a more assertive posture. His Cabinet reinterpreted Article 9 of the Constitution in 2014 to permit limited collective self-defense, and the Diet passed related security legislation in 2015. He championed the concept of a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific," revived the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) with the United States, Australia, and India, and salvaged the Trans-Pacific Partnership as the CPTPP after the US withdrawal in 2017. He cultivated close ties with US Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, while relations with South Korea deteriorated over wartime labor and trade disputes in 2019.

Abe also visited Yasukuni Shrine in December 2013, drawing protests from Beijing and Seoul, and pushed unsuccessfully to amend Article 9. He hosted the 2019 G20 Osaka Summit and secured the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, later postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19.

On 8 July 2022, Abe was assassinated while campaigning in Nara. He was given a controversial state funeral that September.