On Friday 8.7.2022, while continuing to dedicate himself to politics, he shots several times while giving a speech in the middle of the street. The fact shocked the world and recalled a time when murder seemed to be a political strategy in the Asian nation. (This would be the sixth president to be assassinated in the country). he was killed in cold blood without anyone moving a finger, he died treacherously while defending the interests of his country
Today he will take a break from the Political life and his long career.
Today we will mourn
Shinzo Abe
Shinzō Abe born on September 21, 1954 Nagato, Japan (although some sources say Tokyo), to father Shintaro Abe, former General Secretary of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Yoko Ishi, mother. He was a Japanese politician, president of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD or Jiminto) and prime minister
Abe was Japan's longest-serving prime minister and was known for being a "hawk" on hard-line foreign policy and his distinctive economic strategy known as "Abenomics."
He was the grandson and son of politicians. His maternal grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, was convicted of a war criminal.
He studied Political Science at Seikei Universities graduating in 1977. Later he would go to the United States, where he studied at the University of Southern California, although without receiving any diploma.
In 1979 Abe started working at Kobe Steel. In 1982 he passed to political functions.
Abe was first elected to Parliament in 1993 after his father's death in 1991, and served in Prime Minister Jun'ichirō Koizumi's cabinet, when he was appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary in 2005.
His rise seemed to have reached its climax in 2006 when he became Japan's youngest post-war prime minister. In 2003, he was already secretary
general of the PLD. In 2005 he was Chief Cabinet Secretary and, in 2006, President of the PLD. Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020, he was the youngest head of government since 1941 and the first born after World War II.
What was your political ideology based on?
Well, Abe was a liberal and conservative nationalist. He was a member of Nippon Kaigi, a lobby dedicated to promoting patriotic education, constitutional reform and interpreting Shintoism in a nationalist key.
On August 4, 2006, Shinzō Abe visited Yasukuni Shrine, where fallen Japanese heroes are honored. Many governments expressed their discomfort that war criminals were buried there. Abe said that visits to Yasukuni are an internal matter. He was not the only one, there were more than 150 deputies from various parties.
He was critical of "excessive sex education and education without gender differentiation." he opposed legal reform to allow women to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne as empress. Even so, he promoted a greater presence of women in important positions, both in his Party and in his governments.
Its three initial objectives were: remove constitutional restrictions on the Army, improve relations with its neighbors and balance the budget, not by raising taxes but by cutting spending. The latter would change during his terms.
His foreign policy work
Tokyo sought to contain China and respond to Pyongyang's threats. Shinzō Abe frequently visited his neighbors, such as Vietnam,
Thailand, Indonesia..., seeking relations that "are in favor of Japan's national interests". In 2013, from Jakarta, he presented the Abe Doctrine, describing the alliance with the US as "vital".
In 2015, Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Park Geun Hye announced in Seoul the "complete restoration" of ties, pushing for a free trade agreement. Shortly after they met again in the framework of the X Summit of the G20 in Turkey.
He visited President Putin, the first official visit since 2003, and they met again at the 8th G20 Summit in Saint Petersburg. There Abe met Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a new multilateral meeting between Abe and Xi Jinping in Beijing, both leaders did not get along. Abe had good relations with Taiwan. Six months later, in Jakarta, at the Asian-African Summit, their meeting was more cordial, but to no avail.
When visiting Obama at the White House, Abe told US congressmen: "On behalf of Japan and the Japanese people, I offer with deep respect my eternal condolences for the souls of all Americans lost in World War II."
In 2015, taking advantage of the anniversaries of the 1945 surrender, he closed with Seoul the old wounds over the issue of the sex slaves of the imperial army by paying the living Korean victims one billion yen in a compensation fund managed by the South Korean government.
Military force
Abe also tried to strengthen the Japanese military by reinterpreting the nation's pacifist constitution, drafted after World War II. With the
parliamentary approval of the reform, on July 16, 2015, its Armed Forces were empowered to intervene in war actions beyond Japan.
With this measure they immediately proclaimed themselves in massive protests in the Japanese capital. In addition, Abe increased the military budget and began a rearmament program, between 2014 and 2019, raising defense spending by 2.6% from the previous five-year period.
Pyongyang in 2013 detonated its third atomic device in seven years. Tokyo deployed anti-missile systems, in addition to naval interceptors in the Sea of Japan. North Korea launched missiles that landed off Japan's western coast near Hokkaido. The dictator Kim Jong Un, in 2017, threatened to "sink" the islands of the rising sun.
Japan has a dispute with China over the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands, included in the Security Treaty between Washington and Tokyo. It also maintains a dispute with Moscow over the four Southern Kuril Islands, whose Russian sovereignty does not recognize Japan, the US or the EU.
On the other hand, on August 6, 2014, on the seventieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Abe announced the presentation to the UN of a proposal for the elimination of nuclear weapons throughout the world.
Coping with the economy and the pandemic
Abe's economic policies, dubbed Abenomics, initially sought monetary easing, fiscal stimulus, and structural reforms. Faced with the decline in consumption and the strength of the yen, which is detrimental to exports, the Bank of Japan opted for a monetary policy, with zero interest rates and bond purchases, adding Abe Keynesian measures to stimulate demand. It was a 180 degree turn from the previous austerity. The goal was to create jobs, increase wages, encourage consumption and achieve annual GDP growth of 2%. Prices went up, the increase in the consumption tax, from 5% to 8%, discouraged purchases and business investments, although Abe lowered the corporate tax. Those measures generated growth during their first term, but subsequent slowdowns raised questions about the effectiveness of "abenomics."
His efforts to revitalize the economy also faced challenges when, in the spring of 2020, Japan slipped into recession for the first time since 2015.
Abe's popularity suffered another blow around his handling of the covid-19 pandemic. There were also concerns that campaigns aimed at promoting tourism within the country contributed to the resurgence of the infection.
Critics point out that other promises of his economic policy -- such as empowering women in the workforce, cracking down on nepotism and changing unhealthy work cultures -- have also gone unfulfilled.
However, it is recognized that he was able to keep the Trans-Pacific Economic Cooperation Agreement in force, particularly after the US withdrew from that trade agreement.
Resignation and Death
When on August 28, 2020 Abe announces his resignation citing health problems with colitis, for which, he said, he needs ongoing treatment. At a news conference in Tokyo, he said that "I judged that I should not continue my work as prime minister."
An internal fight arose between the factions of the LDP, because he refused to name a successor.
He was eventually succeeded by Yoshihide Suga, a veteran politician who was a longtime member of his cabinet. But Abe continued to dominate Japan's domestic politics, even after Suga was replaced by current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
On July 7, 2022, Abe was giving a speech in support of a candidate for the Upper House in the city of Nara, in a western district of Japan, when he was shot at around 11:30 a.m. (local time).
The attacker, a former Japanese marine who was neutralized and arrested at the scene, said he was dissatisfied with Abe's policies.
Tetsuya Yamagami, arrested immediately after shooting Abe at a campaign rally, confessed that he planned the crime and attacked the former prime minister for his alleged links to the Moon sect.
Abe immediately fell to the ground and was seen bloodied. Still conscious, he was taken to a nearby hospital.
Finally, July 8, 2022: Doctors confirm Abe's death from injuries sustained during the shooting. He was 67 years old.
The killing has shocked a country unaccustomed to gun violence and with one of the lowest crime rates in the world
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