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Shinzo Abe
安倍 晋三
Official portrait photograph of Abe
Official portrait, 2020
Prime Minister of Japan
In office
26 December 2012 – 16 September 2020
Monarch
Deputy Tarō Asō
Preceded by Yoshihiko Noda
Succeeded by Yoshihide Suga
In office
26 September 2006 – 26 September 2007
Monarch Akihito
Preceded by Junichirō Koizumi
Succeeded by Yasuo Fukuda
President of the Liberal Democratic Party
In office
26 September 2012 – 14 September 2020
Deputy Masahiko Kōmura
Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba
Sadakazu Tanigaki
Toshihiro Nikai
Preceded by Sadakazu Tanigaki
Succeeded by Yoshihide Suga
In office
20 September 2006 – 26 September 2007
Secretary-General Tsutomu Takebe
Hidenao Nakagawa
Tarō Asō
Preceded by Junichiro Koizumi
Succeeded by Yasuo Fukuda
Leader of the Opposition
In office
26 September 2012 – 26 December 2012
Monarch Akihito
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda
Preceded by Sadakazu Tanigaki
Succeeded by Banri Kaieda
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office
31 October 2005 – 26 September 2006
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
Preceded by Hiroyuki Hosoda
Succeeded by Yasuhisa Shiozaki
Member of the House of Representatives
from Yamaguchi
Assumed office
20 October 1996
Preceded by Constituency established
Constituency 4th district
Majority 86,258 (58.40%)
In office
18 July 1993 – 20 October 1996
Preceded by Constituency established
Succeeded by Masahiko Kōmura
Constituency 1st district
Personal details
Born
安倍晋三 (Abe Shinzō)

(1954-09-21) 21 September 1954 (age 69)
Tokyo, Japan
Died July 8, 2022(2022-07-08) (aged 67)
Nara, Japan
Political party Liberal Democratic
Spouse
Akie Abe
(m. 1987)
Parents
  • Shintaro Abe (father)
  • Yoko Abe (mother)
Alma mater

Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954-8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician. He was the Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. Abe had been a member of the House of Representatives since 1996. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Early life

Shinzo Abe was born on 21 September 1954 to a prominent political family in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Although as a boy he aspired to become a filmmaker, Abe's family history led him upon a political path. His father Shintaro Abe served in the House of Representatives from 1958 to 1991, with stints as Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minister for International Trade and Industry, and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Abe attended Seikei Elementary School and Seikei Junior and Senior High School (成蹊中学校・高等学校).

Political career

After graduating from Seikei University and briefly attending the University of Southern California, Abe was elected to the Japanese House of Representatives in the 1993 election. Abe was appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary by Prime Minister Koizumi in 2005 before replacing him as prime minister and LDP president the following year. Abe became Japan's youngest post-war prime minister and the first born after World War II.

Prime Minister

Shinzō Abe and Donald Trump in Kawagoe (1)
Abe and US president Donald Trump in 2017 with "MAGA"-style hats reading "Donald & Shinzo, Make Alliance Even Greater"

During his time in office, Abe expressed a general commitment to the reforms instituted by his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. He took some steps toward balancing the Japanese budget. He also sought to revise or broaden the interpretation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution in order to permit Japan to maintain de jure military forces. Like his predecessors, he supported the Japanese alliance with the United States.

Resignation of the Abe Cabinet 20070925
Abe resigned as prime minister in September 2007 (pictured).

Abe resigned as prime minister a year later due to his party's recent election losses. He then staged an unexpected political comeback by defeating Shigeru Ishiba, the former defense minister, to become LDP president in 2012. Following the LDP's landslide victory in that year's general election, Abe became the first former prime minister to return to office since Shigeru Yoshida in 1948. He led the LDP to further victories in the 2014 and 2017 elections, becoming Japan's longest-serving prime minister. In 2020, Abe again resigned as prime minister, citing a relapse of his colitis, and was succeeded by Yoshihide Suga.

Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Abe with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 2016

On 27 May 2016, Abe accompanied Barack Obama when he became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, 71 years after the US atomic bombing of the city towards the end of World War II. The two paid tribute to the victims of the bombing at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, during the visit both leaders pledged to promote nuclear disarmament. Ahead of the visit, Obama said it would "highlight the extraordinary alliance" between Japan and the United States.

Later life

Abe Bowing Resignation
Abe bowing after announcing his resignation during a press conference in Tokyo, August 2020

In retirement, Abe was not as active as before but continued to give interviews.

Assassination

On 8 July 2022 around 11:30 JST, Abe was shot while delivering a campaign speech at Yamato-Saidaiji Station, Nara. He was supporting fellow LDP party member Kei Satō for the House of Councillors election.

The assassin approached Abe from behind and fired two shots using a homemade firearm. The first shot missed and prompted Abe to turn around, at which point a second shot was fired, hitting Abe in the chest. He was fatally struck in the heart.

Abe was rushed to the Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara by helicopter. Prior to his arrival at the hospital, Abe had already shown no vital signs. Despite a transfusion of 100 units of blood (≈ 30 litres), the blood loss was too great and attempts to resuscitate Abe failed; he was pronounced dead at 17:03 JST. He was 67 years old.

A 41-year-old man named Tetsuya Yamagami, a former JMSDF member, was immediately arrested and later confessed to local police. Yamagami said he held a grudge against the Unification Church and shot Abe because "the religious group and Abe were connected". Yamagami said his mother was brain-washed by the religious group, and had given the church all of his family's money, leaving them so poor that he and his siblings often didn't have enough to eat.

Yamagami had been trying to kill Hak Ja Han of the Unification Church since around 2002, but he gave up because he could not get close to her, changing his target to Abe. Yamagami said he "didn't have a grudge against Abe's political beliefs", but instead that he killed Abe because he believed the former prime minister had spread the religion to Japan.

In response to the shooting and his subsequent death, numerous present and former world leaders expressed their sympathies and support for Abe. His body was returned to Tokyo the day after his assassination and his state funeral took place on 27 September 2022.

Personal life

Shinzō Abe and Akie Abe
Abe and his wife Akie in 2016

Abe married Akie Matsuzaki, a socialite and former radio disc jockey, in 1987. She is the daughter of the president of Morinaga, a confectionery manufacturer. The couple were unable to have children. Abe's elder brother, Hironobu Abe, became president and CEO of Mitsubishi Shōji Packaging Corporation, while his younger brother, Nobuo Kishi, became Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs.

In addition to his native Japanese, Abe spoke English.

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Shinzō Abe para niños

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