Shinzo Abe wanted to transform Japan into a “beautiful country”. For him, this included a strengthening of patriotism. He was also largely responsible for the expansion of the Japanese military. Abe has now died in an assassination attempt. He never achieved his political goal in life.
Some considered him a patriot who wanted to “bring Japan back” to its old strength. The other as a right-wing, scandal-ridden populist and foreign policy hardliner, under whom Asia’s oldest democracy has turned away from pacifist post-war politics. The fact is: Shinzo Abe shaped Japan over the past decade, nobody ruled longer than he did.
He was in power from December 2012 to September 2020, and previously from September 2006 to September 2007. He resigned as prime minister in September 2020 due to health problems. On Friday he was campaigning in the city of Nara – before he was shot. Abe died in hospital at the age of 67 as a result of extensive blood loss.
“He helped shape Japanese history and has always advocated multilateralism and our common foundation of values,” tweeted a spokesman for the former German government under Angela Merkel in 2020, just as Abe had announced his resignation , but turns out to be mixed.
It was particularly bitter for Abe that he did not achieve his political goal in life: a revision of the pacifist post-war constitution. Abe always believed that the constitution was not that of an independent nation, having been imposed on Japan in 1946 by the occupying United States.
He did, however, manage to drive in a few posts. He had the constitution “reinterpreted” without further ado in order to expand the role of the military alongside today’s protecting power, the USA. Against great resistance from the people, he had security laws put into effect that enable combat missions abroad. Bans on arms exports were eased and a State Secrets Protection Act was enacted, bringing critics to mind of the period leading up to World War II.
The farewell to the purely defensive orientation of the state led to the largest mass protests in five decades. Abe justified all this with the increased tensions in the region – he recently saw himself strengthened by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Now he seems to have fallen victim to a former member of the very military that Abe held so dear. The suspected gunman reportedly told police he had no grudges against Abe’s political beliefs but was “dissatisfied” with him.
Abe’s nationalist aspirations never garnered widespread popular support during his tenure. But Abe has managed to keep the opposition fragmented and weak, the state media more reserved than before, and many younger people in particular to be apolitical.
Abe’s grandfather, Nobosuke Kishi, was arrested by the Allies after World War II as a suspected war criminal, but was never put on trial. In 1957 Kishi became Prime Minister. His grandson Abe is considered by critics to be a right-wing populist and staunch nationalist who wants to whitewash Japan’s wartime past.
Abe’s initial popularity came from his tough stance on North Korea on the issue of kidnapping Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s. He was also unable to solve this problem during his tenure. The same applies to the decades-long dispute with Russia over the Kuril Islands in the Pacific, which Japan calls its “northern territories”. They fell to the Soviet Union after World War II. The dispute has prevented the conclusion of a peace treaty to this day. The relationship with China and South Korea continues to be difficult due to island disputes and Japan’s handling of its wartime past.
Economically, Abe wanted to lead Japan out of decades of deflation and stagnation with his “Abenomics” economic policy of cheap money, debt-financed economic stimulus injections and the promise of structural reforms. The world’s third-largest economy, ahead of Germany, experienced the longest growth phase in years under Abe, and the stock market was booming. The companies also became very profitable overall. At the same time, however, “Abenomics” led to the profits being distributed unequally, his critics complained.
According to a report, the Berlin-Mitte housing association has increased the ancillary cost prepayments for tenants whose apartments are heated with gas or oil by 100 percent. This is intended to counteract immense additional payments in view of the high energy prices.
According to media reports, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally injured in an assassination attempt. A man shot Abe from behind during a campaign speech in the old imperial city of Nara in broad daylight, Japanese media reported on Friday, citing Abe’s ruling LDP party.
Numerous members of the German Bundestag are also listed in the lobby register as functionaries of lobby associations. This is reported by the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit” and the transparency initiative parliamentwatch.de.
