Shinzo Abe was born on September 21, 1954 in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Both his maternal and paternal grandparents were political and economic influences in Imperial Japan and in the postwar years.
ABE SHINZO'S FAMILY
His paternal grandfather, Abe Kan, belonged to a landowning family in the city of Yamaguchi in the south of the country. Abe Kan was featured in the House of Representatives during WWII.
Abe's father, Abe Shintaro, was also a member of the House of Representatives for many years between 1958 and 1991. Shintaro, who was in different governments as the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minister of International Trade and Industry, and Minister of Foreign Affairs during this period, volunteered to become a kamikaze pilot in the Second World War, but the war ended before he completed his training.
Abe's maternal grandfather, Kishi Nobusuke, was the de facto economic administrator of the puppet administration of the Chinese territories occupied by Japan and the Manchuria region during the Second World War years. Person, who also served as Deputy Minister of Munitions during the war, was tried and imprisoned as an "A-class war criminal" by the United States, which invaded Japan after the war.
After a short while, he was released with the policy change of the invaders. In 1955, he was among the founders of the Liberal Democrat Party, which represented the right conservative wing in Japanese politics and of which Abe was a member, and served as the prime minister during the 1957-1960 period.
POLITICAL CAREER OF ABE SHINZO
Abe Shinzo completed primary and secondary school and high school at Seikei Private Schools in Tokyo. He graduated from the political science department of the private university belonging to the same school group in 1977. Then he went to the USA and studied at the Faculty of Politics, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California.
Abe joined the Kobe Steel Company in 1979 after his university education and worked there until 1982. Having assumed auxiliary roles in politics after leaving the company, Abe served as the administrative assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Special Secretary to the Chairman of the LDP General Council.
ABE SHINZO'S PRIME MINISTRY TERM
Abe first entered the House of Representatives from the LDP in the 1993 general election. In 2005, he was appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary by Koizumi Junichiro. Abe, who assumed the post of prime minister after Koizumi's resignation in 2006, became Japan's youngest post-war prime minister and the first post-war prime minister to be born.
Abe resigned as prime minister a year later, citing intestinal inflammation. He would leave the post in 2020 due to the same health problem. After recovering from the disease, Abe returned to politics after being elected as the leader of the LDP in 2012. Following the LDP's election victory that same year, Abe's uninterrupted presidency began.
Abe's election victory in 2012 was followed by those in 2014 and 2017. Abe made history as "the longest-serving prime minister in Japan" until he stepped down in 2020.
Abe, a member of the conservative nationalist organization known as the "Nippon Kaigi" (Japanese Conference), which is sometimes described as "extreme right", was one of the supporters of the political thesis that took a "denial" attitude towards Japan's recent history and war crimes during the Second World War.
Abe was one of those who advocated the repeal of the "pacifist" 9 article of the Japanese Constitution, which stipulates non-aggression, and the strengthening of the Japanese armed forces for non-self-defense purposes.
Abe, who advocated a hard stance against North Korea in foreign policy, supporting Taiwan's independence against China, and protecting Japan's sovereignty claims in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, did not hesitate to resort to political discourses in this direction during his prime ministry.
Abe's foreign policy line was causing tensions with the countries of the region, especially with China. Even Abe's statements after leaving office were the subject of harsh responses from Chinese spokesmen.
Abe Shinzo's monetary policy based on fiscal expansion, incentives and structural reforms, who adopted the liberal line in economy, were the methods he used to revive the Japanese economy, which had been stuck in stagflation and stagnation since the 1990s.
THE DEATH OF ABE SHINZO
Abe was gunned down while speaking at a rally in the city of Nara on July 8, 2022. Abe was giving a campaign speech when he was shot.