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Shinzō Abe (born September 21, 1954) is the Prime Minister of Japan, re-elected to the position in December 2012. Abe is also the President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and chairman of the Oyagaku propulsion parliamentary group.
Abe served for a year as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007. Hailing from a politically prominent family, he became Japan's youngest post-war prime minister, and the first to be born after World War II, when he was elected by a special session of the National Diet in September 2006. Abe resigned on September 12, 2007, for health reasons. He was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda, beginning a string of prime ministers, none of whom retained office for more than a year before Abe staged a political comeback.
On September 26, 2012, Abe defeated former Minister of Defense Shigeru Ishiba in a run-off vote to win the LDP presidential election. Following the LDP's landslide victory in the 2012 general election, Abe became the Prime Minister again. He is the first former Prime Minister to return to the office since Shigeru Yoshida in 1948. Abe was re-elected at the 2014 general election, retaining his two-thirds majority with coalition partner New Kōmeitō Party.
Abe was born in Tokyo to a politically prominent family. His family is originally from Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Abe's registered residence ("honseki chi") is Nagato, Yamaguchi, where his grandfather was born. His grandfather, Kan Abe, and father, Shintaro Abe, were both politicians. Abe's mother, Yoko Kishi, is the daughter of Nobusuke Kishi, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. Kishi had been a member of the Tōjō Cabinet during the Second World War. Since GHQ's policy changed and became more anti-communist, Kishi was released from Sugamo Prison, and later established the Japan Democratic Party. In his book "Utsukushii Kuni e" ("Toward a Beautiful Country"), Abe wrote "Some people used to point to my grandfather as a 'Class-A war criminal suspect,' and I felt strong repulsion. Because of that experience, I may have become emotionally attached to 'conservatism,' on the contrary".
In 1955, Shigeru Yoshida's Liberal Party and Kishi's Democratic Party merged as an anti-leftist coalition and was reestablished as the LDP. Abe attended Seikei Elementary School, Seikei Junior High School and Seikei Senior High School. He studied political science at Seikei University, graduating in 1977. He later moved to the United States and studied public policy at the University of Southern California's School of Public Policy, but failed to receive a degree from USC. In April 1979, Abe began working for Kobe Steel. He left the company in 1982 and pursued a number of government positions including executive assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, private secretary to the chairperson of the LDP General Council, and private secretary to the LDP secretary-general.
After being elected as prime minister for the second time in 2012, Japan's Shinzo Abe is struggling. His trade minister was recently exposed for owning stock in a company he oversees to clean up the Fukushima nuclear plant. This comes on the heels of the resignation of two of his cabinet ministers after allegations of misusing campaign funds. Abe's first term as PM was cut short in 2007 after a series of cabinet ministers' scandals. In 2014's second quarter Japan's GDP fell at its fastest rate since the 2011 earthquake, as the PM's "Abenomics" plan struggles to pull the country out of economic stagnation. He recently met with Xi Jinping, reportedly shaking hands with the Chinese leader, which many consider a symbol of rapprochement.
Abe served for a year as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007. Hailing from a politically prominent family, he became Japan's youngest post-war prime minister, and the first to be born after World War II, when he was elected by a special session of the National Diet in September 2006. Abe resigned on September 12, 2007, for health reasons. He was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda, beginning a string of prime ministers, none of whom retained office for more than a year before Abe staged a political comeback.
On September 26, 2012, Abe defeated former Minister of Defense Shigeru Ishiba in a run-off vote to win the LDP presidential election. Following the LDP's landslide victory in the 2012 general election, Abe became the Prime Minister again. He is the first former Prime Minister to return to the office since Shigeru Yoshida in 1948. Abe was re-elected at the 2014 general election, retaining his two-thirds majority with coalition partner New Kōmeitō Party.
Abe was born in Tokyo to a politically prominent family. His family is originally from Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Abe's registered residence ("honseki chi") is Nagato, Yamaguchi, where his grandfather was born. His grandfather, Kan Abe, and father, Shintaro Abe, were both politicians. Abe's mother, Yoko Kishi, is the daughter of Nobusuke Kishi, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. Kishi had been a member of the Tōjō Cabinet during the Second World War. Since GHQ's policy changed and became more anti-communist, Kishi was released from Sugamo Prison, and later established the Japan Democratic Party. In his book "Utsukushii Kuni e" ("Toward a Beautiful Country"), Abe wrote "Some people used to point to my grandfather as a 'Class-A war criminal suspect,' and I felt strong repulsion. Because of that experience, I may have become emotionally attached to 'conservatism,' on the contrary".
In 1955, Shigeru Yoshida's Liberal Party and Kishi's Democratic Party merged as an anti-leftist coalition and was reestablished as the LDP. Abe attended Seikei Elementary School, Seikei Junior High School and Seikei Senior High School. He studied political science at Seikei University, graduating in 1977. He later moved to the United States and studied public policy at the University of Southern California's School of Public Policy, but failed to receive a degree from USC. In April 1979, Abe began working for Kobe Steel. He left the company in 1982 and pursued a number of government positions including executive assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, private secretary to the chairperson of the LDP General Council, and private secretary to the LDP secretary-general.
After being elected as prime minister for the second time in 2012, Japan's Shinzo Abe is struggling. His trade minister was recently exposed for owning stock in a company he oversees to clean up the Fukushima nuclear plant. This comes on the heels of the resignation of two of his cabinet ministers after allegations of misusing campaign funds. Abe's first term as PM was cut short in 2007 after a series of cabinet ministers' scandals. In 2014's second quarter Japan's GDP fell at its fastest rate since the 2011 earthquake, as the PM's "Abenomics" plan struggles to pull the country out of economic stagnation. He recently met with Xi Jinping, reportedly shaking hands with the Chinese leader, which many consider a symbol of rapprochement.
