Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated Friday, angered both liberals at home and World War II victims in Asia with his revisionist view of Japan’s history.
| Shinzo Abe was a political blue blood groomed for power. Japan’s longest serving prime minister, he was also perhaps the most polarising, complex politician in recent Japanese history.
Abe was a darling of conservatives but reviled by many liberals in Japan. And no policy was more divisive than his cherished, ultimately unsuccessful dream to revise Japan’s war-renouncing constitution. His ultra-nationalism also angered the Koreas and China, both wartime victims of Japan. Abe stepped down as prime minister in 2020 because he said the ulcerative colitis he’d had since he was a teenager resurfaced.Abe bristled against postwar treaties and the tribunal that judged Japanese war criminals. His political rhetoric often focused on making Japan a “normal” and “beautiful” nation with a stronger military and bigger role in international affairs.
Abe was also a big influence on current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s policies, pushing for the bolstering of military capability, including a preemptive-strike capability.Abe stepped down as prime minister in 2020 because he said the ulcerative colitis he’d had since he was a teenager resurfaced. Abe charmed conservatives with his security policies because of fears of terrorism, North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons ambitions and China’s military assertiveness.But there has always been general public support for the pacifist constitution and divided views on amendments within Abe’s governing party. Many lawmakers preferred to focus on economic growth.
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