Shinzo Abe
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| Shinzo Abe | |
| Image:Abeshinzo.jpg <small/> | |
| | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office September 26 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Junichiro Koizumi |
|---|---|
| | |
| Born | September 21 1954 Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Akie Abe |
| Religion | Shinto |
Shinzo Abe (安倍 晋三 Abe Shinzō?, pronounced [abe ɕinzoː], born September 21 1954) is the current Prime Minister of Japan, elected by a special session of the National Diet on September 26 2006. He is Japan's youngest post-World War II prime minister and the first born after the war.
Abe was born into a political family, and studied political science in Japan and the United States. He worked in the private sector until 1982 when he began work in several government jobs. He entered politics in 1993 when he won an election in the Yamaguchi Prefecture. Abe served under Prime Ministers Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi, eventually becoming Koizumi's Chief Cabinet Secretary. Abe gained national fame for the strong stance he took against North Korea, which eventually propelled him to presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Prime Minister's office. While expected to follow the economic policies of his predecessor, Abe is also expected to improve the previously strained relations with the People's Republic of China.
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[edit] Early life
Abe was born in Nagato and studied political science at Seikei University, graduating in 1977. He later moved to the United States to study political science at the University of Southern California, though he received no degree.<ref>http://www.wafu.ne.jp/~gori/diary3/200402061409.html</ref> In April 1979 Abe began working for Kobe Steel.<ref name=PROFILE>Profile: Shinzo Abe BBC News</ref> He then left the company in 1982 and pursued a number of governmental positions: 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.<ref name=CHAIR>Shinzo Abe the Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe's official website</ref>
Abe was born into a political family. His grandfather, Kan Abe, and father, Shintarō Abe, were both politicians. His mother, Yōko Kishi, is the daughter of Nobusuke Kishi, who was once jailed as a Class A war criminal but later went on to become Prime Minister in the 1950's.
[edit] Political career
Shinzō Abe was elected to the first district of Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1993 after his father's death in 1991, winning the most votes of any election in the prefecture's history. In 1999 he became Director of the Social Affairs Division, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi Cabinets from 2000–2003, after which he was appointed Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Abe was chief negotiator for the Japanese government on behalf of the families of Japanese abductees taken to North Korea, and accompanied Koizumi to meet Kim Jong Il in 2002. He gained national popularity when he demanded that Japanese abductees visiting Japan remain, in defiance of North Korea.<ref name=DEFIANCE>The Abe Enigma Time Magazine</ref>
On October 31 2005, he was nominated Chief Cabinet Secretary of the fifth Koizumi Cabinet, succeeding Hiroyuki Hosoda.
He was the leader of a project team within the LDP that did a survey on "excessive sexual education and gender-free education." Among the items to which this team raised objections were anatomical dolls and other curricular materials "not taking into consideration the age of children," school policies banning traditional boys' and girls' festivals, and mixed-gender physical education. The team sought to provide contrast to the Democratic Party of Japan, which it alleged supported such policies.<ref name=SEXEDU>Kodomo wa shakai no takara, kuni no takara desu jimin.jp (LDP site)</ref>
On September 20 2006, Shinzo Abe was elected as the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.<ref name=ELECTED>Shinzo Abe to Succeed Koizumi as Japan's Next Prime Minister Bloomberg</ref> His chief competitors for the position were Sadakazu Tanigaki and Taro Aso. Yasuo Fukuda was a leading early contender but ultimately chose not to run. Former Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori, to whose faction both Abe and Fukuda belonged, stated that the faction strongly leant toward Abe.<ref name=FACTION>Mori faction unease mounts / Ex-premier stumped over Abe, Fukuda and party leadership race Daily Yomiuri</ref>
On September 26, Shinzo Abe was elected Prime Minister with 339 of 475 votes in the Diet's lower house and a firm majority in the upper house.<ref name=BBC>Abe elected as new Japan premier, BBC News. Accessed 26 September 2006.</ref>
[edit] View on history
Since 1997, as the bureau chief of the 'Institute of Junior Assembly Members Who Think About the Outlook of Japan and History Education', Abe led the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform. On his official homepage <ref>http://www.s-abe.or.jp/poritics/textbook/textbook.htm</ref> he denies that Japanese troops used comfort women, dismissing Korean "revisionism" as foreign interference in Japanese domestic affairs. In a Diet session on October 6, 2006, Abe revised his statement regarding comfort women, and said that he accepted the report issued in 1993 by the sitting cabinet secretary, Yohei Kono, where the Japanese government officially acknowledged the issue. Later in the session, Abe stated his belief that Class A war criminals are not criminals under Japan's domestic law <ref>Abe clarifies views on 'history issue,' reaffirms apologies, Daily Yomiuri, October 7, 2006.</ref>.
In a meeting of the Lower House Budget Committee in February 2006, Shinzō Abe said, 'There is a problem as to how to define aggressive wars; we cannot say it is decided academically',<ref name="20060216minutes">Official minutes of the Budget Committee (2006-02-18).</ref> and 'It is not the business of the government to decide how to define the last world war. I think we have to wait for the estimation of historians'.<ref name="20060216minutes">Official minutes of the Budget Committee (2006-02-18).</ref> However, on a TV program in July 2006 <ref>http://www.jcp.or.jp/akahata/aik4/2005-08-01/2005080104_01_0.html</ref> he denied that Manchukuo was a puppet state.
Abe published a book called Toward a Beautiful Nation (美しい国へ Utsukushi'i Kuni E?) in July 2006, which became a bestseller in Japan. In this book, he claims that Class A war criminals (those charged with crimes against peace) who were adjudicated in the Tokyo Tribunal after World War II were not war criminals in the eye of domestic law.[citation needed] The Korean and Chinese governments, as well as noted academics and commentators, have voiced concern about Abe's historical views. <ref>Abe's "normal" Japan, ZNet, Oct. 5, 2006.</ref><ref>History Redux: Japan’s Textbook Battle Reignites, Japan Policy Research Institute Working Paper No. 107 (June 2005).</ref><ref>Japan's difficult drive to be a 'beautiful country', The Hankyoreh, September 2, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Response to mass media
The Asahi Shimbun also accused Abe and Shoichi Nakagawa of censoring a 2001 NHK program concerning 'The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal' <ref>LDP pressure led to cuts in NHK show, Asahi Shimbun, January 12, 2005.</ref>. The tribunal was an international civilian tribunal to adjudicate 'comfort women', sexual slaves of the Japanese army; about 5000 people including 64 casualties from Japan and abroad attended. The judicators, who were well-known specialists of international law, rendered a historical judgement that Emperor Hirohito was guilty and the Japanese government responsible. The TV program, however, did not mention the full name of the tribunal and keywords such as 'Japanese troops' or 'sexual slavery', and it also cut the sight of the tribunal, the host grouping, statements of the organizer, and the judgement itself. Instead, it presented criticism against the tribunal by a right-wing academic and his statement that 'there was no abduction of sex slaves and they were prostitutes' <ref>http://www1.jca.apc.org/vaww-net-japan/english/womenstribunal2000/whatstribunal.html</ref>. On the day following the Asahi Shimbun report, Akira Nagai, the chief producer and primary person responsible for the program, held a press conference and ensured the report of the Asahi Shimbun. Abe stated that the content "had to be broadcasted from a neutral point of view" and 'what I did is not to give political pressure.' Abe said "It was a political terrorism by Asahi Shimbun and it was tremendously clear that they had intention to inhume me and Mr.Nakagawa politically, and it is also clear that it was complete fabrication." He also characterized the tribunal as a "mock trial" and raised objection to the presence of North Korean prosecutors singling them out as agents of North Korean government. <ref>安倍晋三氏の事実歪曲発言について, Violence Against Women in War Network Japan, January 17, 2005.</ref> Abe's actions in the NHK incident have been criticized as being both illegal (violating the Broadcast Law) and unconstitutional (violating the Japanese Constitution).<ref>War and Japan's Memory Wars, ZNet, January 29, 2005.</ref>
A news program aired on TBS on July 21 2006 about a secret biological weapons troop of Imperial Japanese Army called 'Unit 731', along with a picture panel of Shinzo Abe, who has no relation to the report. Abe said in a press conference, "It is a truly big problem if they want to injure my political life." The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications inquired into fact relevance and stated that there had been an omission in editing the TV program fairly, making an administrative direction of exceptional stringent warning based upon Broadcast Law.
On October 24, 2006, a report emerged that Abe's new administration had called on the NHK to "pay attention" to the North Korean abductees issue. <ref> Japan to order more public media coverage of North Korea abductees, International Herald Tribune, October 24, 2006. </ref> Critics, some even within Abe's own LDP party, charged that the government was violating freedom of expression by meddling in the affairs of the public broadcaster.
[edit] Prime Minister
Abe, elected at age 52, is the youngest Prime Minister since Fumimaro Konoe in 1941.<ref name=age>Abe Is Chosen as Japan's Youngest Leader in 65 Years, Bloomberg, September 26, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Domestic policy
[edit] Economy
Abe has expressed a general commitment to the fiscal reforms instituted by his predecessor, Jun'ichirō Koizumi.<ref name=age /> He has taken some steps toward balancing the Japanese budget, such as appointing a tax policy expert, Kōji Omi, as Minister of Finance. Omi has previously supported increases in the national consumption tax, although Abe has distanced himself from this policy and seeks to achieve much of his budget balancing through spending cuts.<ref name=omiarticle>Japan's Abe Unexpectedly Names Omi Finance Minister, Bloomberg, September 26, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Education
Since 1997, as the bureau chief of "Institute of Junior Assembly Members Who Think About The Outlook of Japan and History Education," Abe supported the controversial Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform and the New History Textbook. He denies the abduction of comfort women by Japanese troops, claims that a history textbook must contribute to the formation of national consciousness, and cites South Korean criticism of the New History Textbook as foreign interference in Japanese domestic affairs.<ref>日本歴史教科書問題, s-abe.or.jp, April 16, 2004.</ref>
[edit] Imperial household
Abe holds conservative views in the Japanese imperial succession controversy, and has said he opposes amending Japanese law to permit a woman to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne as empress. [citation needed]
[edit] Foreign policy
[edit] North Korea
Shinzō Abe has generally taken a hard-line stance with respect to North Korea, especially regarding the North Korean abductions of Japanese.
In 2002 negotiations between Japan and North Korea, Prime Minister Koizumi and General Secretary Kim Jong Il agreed to give abductees permission to visit Japan. A few weeks into the visit, the Japanese government decided that the abductees would be restricted from returning to North Korea where their families live. Abe took credit for this policy decision in his best-selling book, Toward a Beautiful Nation (美しい国へ Utsukushii kuni e?). North Korea criticized this Japanese decision as a breach of a diplomatic promise, and the negotiations aborted.
On July 7, 2006, North Korea conducted missile tests over the Sea of Japan. Abe, as Chief Cabinet Secretary, cooperated with Foreign Minister Tarō Asō to seek sanctions against North Korea in the United Nations Security Council.[citation needed]
[edit] China, South Korea and Taiwan
Abe has publicly recognized the need for improved relations with the People's Republic of China and, along with Foreign Minister Tarō Asō, seeks an eventual summit meeting with Chinese paramount leader Hu Jintao.<ref name=CNN>New Japan PM vows strong China ties, CNN, September 26, 2006.</ref> Abe has also said that Sino-Japanese relations should not continue to be based on emotions.<ref name=EMOTION>Japan's Abe Says Talks Needed to Improve Ties With China, South Korea VOA News</ref>
On August 4, 2006, the Japanese media reported that Shinzō Abe had visited the Yasukuni Shrine (a shrine that includes convicted war criminals in its honored war dead) in April of that year. Abe claimed the visit was of a personal and non-official nature, as Former Prime Minister Koizumi has in the past. The Chinese and South Korean governments expressed concern over the visit.<ref name=CONCERN>Abe visited Yasukuni in mid-April/Unannounced visit likely to draw protests Daily Yomiuri Online</ref><ref name=EXPRESSCONCERN>China expresses concern over reported Abe visit to Yasukuni Yahoo! Asia News</ref> Both Abe and Foreign Minister Tarō Asō have stated that any visits to Yasukuni are a domestic matter.<ref name=age />
Moreover, Abe is respected among politicians on Taiwan. Chen Shui-bian welcomed Abe's ministership<ref name=Mainichi>安倍新政権に期待 親台派の印象強く, Mainichi Shimbun, September 26, 2006.</ref>. Part of Abe's appeal in Taiwan is historical: his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi was pro-Taiwan, and his great-uncle Eisaku Satō was the last prime minister to visit Taiwan while in office.<ref name=Mainichi />
[edit] Defense
Abe also seeks to revise or broaden the interpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan in order to permit Japan to maintain de jure military forces. He has stated that "we are reaching the limit in narrowing down differences between Japan's security and the interpretation of our constitution."<ref name=newshour>New Japanese Leader Looks to Expand Nation's Military, NewsHour, September 20, 2006.</ref>
In response to North Korean missile tests in 2006, Abe (then Chief Cabinet Secretary) stated in a press conference that Japan had to explore the ability to bombard the bases of an attacker, which was internationally broadcasted as a "first strike theory." The governments of South and North Korea and China respectively accused it as a representation of aggressive policy of Japan. When China and Russia indicated to assert veto, Abe contradicted that what he had said had not been "first strike."[citation needed]
Like his predecessors, he supports the Japanese alliance with the United States.<ref name=BBC />
[edit] Cabinet
Abe's cabinet was announced on September 26, 2006. The only minister retained in his position from the previous Koizumi cabinet was Foreign Minister Tarō Asō, who had been one of Abe's competitors for the LDP presidency. In addition to the cabinet positions existing under Koizumi, Abe created five new "advisor" positions.
| Secretary | Yasuhisa Shiozaki |
|---|---|
| Internal Affairs | Yoshihide Suga |
| Justice | Jinen Nagase |
| Foreign Affairs | Tarō Asō |
| Finance | Kōji Omi |
| Education | Bunmei Ibuki |
| Health | Hakuo Yanagisawa |
| Agriculture | Toshikatsu Matsuoka |
| Economy | Akira Amari |
| Land | Tetsuzo Fuyushiba |
| Environment | Masatoshi Wakabayashi<ref>Minister of the Environment Wakabayashi Assumes Office. Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan (2006-10-17). Retrieved on 2006-11-25.</ref> |
| Public Safety, Disaster Prevention | Kensei Mizote |
| Defense | Fumio Kyūma |
| Economic Policy | Hiroko Ōta |
| Financial Affairs | Yūji Yamamoto |
| Admin. and Reg. Reform | Ken'ichirō Sata |
| Okinawa, Northern Territories, Technology, Innovation, Youth and Gender | Sanae Takaichi |
| National Security Advisor | Yuriko Koike |
| Economic Policy Advisor | Takumi Nemoto |
| North Korean Abductions Advisor | Kyōko Nakayama |
| Education Advisor | Eriko Yamatani |
| Public Relations Advisor | Hiroshige Seko |
[edit] Faction
Abe is a member of the Mori Faction (formally, the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyū-kai) of the Liberal Democratic Party. This faction is headed by former prime minister Yoshiro Mori. Junichiro Koizumi was a member of the Mori Faction prior to leaving it, as is the custom when accepting a high party post. From 1986 to 1991, Abe's father, Shintaro, headed the same faction. The Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyū-kai has sixty members in the House of Representatives and twenty six in the House of Councillors.Mr. Abe visited China and South Korea shortly after took office.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Official website
- (English) Prime Minister of Japan Official Website
- (English) News about the elections
- (English) Discussion of the Prime Minister's policies and actions
| Preceded by: Junichiro Koizumi | Prime Minister of Japan 2006 – present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by: Hiroyuki Hosoda | Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan 2005–2006 | Succeeded by: Yasuhisa Shiozaki |
| Prime Ministers of Japan | Image:Flag of Japan.svg | |
|---|---|---|
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Abe, Shinzō |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 安倍 晋三 (Japanese) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Japanese Prime Minister |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 21 1954 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nagato, Yamaguchi, Japan |
| DATE OF DEATH | living |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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