Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was Prime Minister of Japan from 26 September 2006 to 26 September 2007, succeeding Junichiro Koizumi and preceding Yasuo Fukuda, and from 26 December 2012 to 16 September 2020, succeeding Yoshihiko Noda and preceding Yoshihide Suga. Abe was a notable leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, supporting a policy of national conservatism and historical revisionism with regard to Japan's war crimes during World War II. He was assassinated by a disgruntled veteran in 2022 while giving a stump speech in Nara.
Biography[]
Shinzo Abe was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1954, the son of politician Shintaro Abe and the grandson of politicians Kan Abe (paternal) and Nobusuke Kishi (maternal). Abe graduated from Seikei University and the University of Southern California, and he worked for Kobe Steel from 1979 to 1982 before serving in a number of government positions, including executive assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as private secretary to the chairperson of the LDP General Council and to the LDP Secretary-General, and these posts allowed for him to be elected to the House of Representatives in 1993, representing the 1st district of Yamaguchi Prefecture. In 2003, he became Secretary-General of the LDP, and he became President of the LDP on 23 April 2006.
On 14 July 2006, Abe was inaugurated as Prime Minister, and, at the age of 52, he was the youngest prime minister since Fumimaro Konoe in 1941. Abe supported balancing the budget through spending cuts, historical revisionism in history textbooks, and the encouragement of nationalism among Japanese youths. Abe also recognized the need for better relations with China, but his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine and Japan's conflicts with China for control of uninhabited islands in the South China Sea strained relations between the two countries. In 2007, the LDP lost control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 52 years, and Abe decided to resign due to his unpopularity and due to health issues. In 2012, however, he was again elected Prime Minister, leading a coalition government with Komeito. Abe was re-elected in 2014 and 2017, acquiring more support each time. On 28 August 2020, he announced his resignation due to health issues, and Yoshihide Suga succeeded him. On 8 July 2022, he was shot by navy veteran Tetsuya Yamagami while giving a stump speech in Nara two days ahead of the House of Councillors elections, and he quickly became non-responsive and fell into cardiac arrest. Despite a transfusion of 100 units of blood, he died of blood loss caused by ballistic trauma at the age of 67.