Profile of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe was born on 21 September 1954. He is the grandson of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi and son of former Minister of Foreign Affairs Shintaro Abe. He succeeded Junichiro Koizumi as president of the Liberal Democratic Party and prime minister of Japan in September 2006. Abe’s premiership has been wracked by a string of political funds scandals within his government. This is thought to have been a key factor in the party’s defeat in the House of Councillors (upper house) election in July 2007.

After only one year in office, Abe announced his resignation on 12 September in order to facilitate the extension of the Japan’s mission in Afghanistan due to expire on 1 November.

“The Prince”

Nicknamed “the prince”, Abe comes from a high-profile political family. He was first elected to the House of Representatives (lower house) in 1993 and became Junichiro Koizumi’s chief cabinet secretary in 2005, his first cabinet post. Abe won the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election and became Japan’s youngest post-war prime minister at the age of 52 in September 2006.

Abe has a strong sense of national pride. He is the author of a book entitled “Toward a Beautiful Country”, containing political views, his love for his country and the desire to review the country’s pacifist constitution. In his first speech as prime minister he stated “the vision I am aiming for is that of a beautiful country, Japan – a country filled with vitality, opportunity, and compassion, which cherishes a spirit of self- discipline, and is open to the world”.

Japan’s relations with South Korea and China, which had suffered under his predecessor, improved under Abe’s leadership. Abe’s first official foreign visit was to China, the first by a Japanese prime minister in five years.

However, Abe also came under fire from South Korea and China for his comments on “comfort women”, Asian women forced into sexual slavery by Japan’s military during World War II. Responding to a resolution debated in the United States’ Congress (later passed) calling for Abe to acknowledge, apologize and accept responsibility for using comfort women, he said there was “no evidence to prove there was coercion as initially suggested”. He was later forced to apologize in parliament for his comments.

Although criticized in the North Korean press for his hardline position on North Korea’s abduction of Japanese civilians in the 1970s and 1980s to train Korean spies, Abe won local support, promising to ” work with an iron will until the day all the abduction victims can be reunited with their parents”.

Abe stated his intention to revise Japan’s war-renouncing constitution, imposed by the United States after World War II and unchanged since 1947. Under his premiership, a Ministry of Defence was inaugurated in January 2007, in line with Abe’s belief that Japan should have a greater global presence.

During his tenure, Shinzo Abe did not visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. The shrine is seen as a symbol of Japanese militarism due to the 14 Class-A war criminals enshrined there alongside other war dead. Abe was generally evasive on the issue, refusing to answer questions in the Diet on his first day as prime minister, stating “I have no intention of declaring if I will or will not visit Yasukuni”.

Scandals and defeat

Abe’s one year-old government has been characterized by a series of faux-pas and scandals. His health minister referred to women as “birth-giving machines”. His defence minister, Fumio Kyuma, stated that the US bombing of Japan during World War II was “something that brought the war to its end . [and] couldn’t be helped”. Although Abe initially defended Kyuma he was forced to accept his resignation following the outcry.

A series of political funds-related scandals dogged his ministers. In May 2007 he received a suicide note from his Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Toshikatsu Matsuoka who hanged himself after being associated with funds management discrepancies. Abe had defended Matsuoka saying the funds were properly handled and his dismissal was not required.

In July 2007 the new agriculture minister, Norihiko Akagi, was also found to be involved in political funds scandals. Again, Abe defended him but was forced to accept his resignation in August.

The Liberal Democratic Party lost the House of Councillors (upper house) election in July 2007. The recent scandals were believed to have directly influenced the party’s poor performance. It was the first time the party had not controlled the house since 1955. Following the election defeat Abe refused to resign, saying “this humiliating setback is my responsibility I would like to continue to fulfil my responsibility as prime minister”.

In September 2007 Abe accepted the resignation of his third Minister of Agriculture Takehiko Endo after only a week in office, over the misuse of farm subsidies.

Six days later, Abe indicated he may step down if his government failed to extend Japan’s refuelling mission in Afghanistan. The law enabling the mission is set to expire on 1 November 2007. Before the law was debated in parliament, Abe announced his resignation saying it would be easier to extend the mandate under a new leader. Abe is expected to remain in a caretaker role until a successor is found.

Originally published by BBC Monitoring research in English 12 Sep 07.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.