The Economist - USA (2020-09-05)

TheEconomistSeptember 5th 2020 29

1

W

hen he wasa boy, Abe Shinzo as-

pired to make films. His family his-

tory—he is the grandson of a prime minis-

ter and the son of a foreign minister—set

him on a different path (see Books & arts

section). Yet as a politician, he strived to

change the stories that Japan tells about it-

self. “If the Japanese need one thing now,

that thing is confidence—the ability to turn

our faces to the sun, like the sunflower

does when it blooms at the height of sum-

mer,” Mr Abe said after becoming prime

minister for the second time, in 2012.

His departure did not follow the script.

Mr Abe announced his resignation on Au-

gust 28th, citing a bout of ulcerative colitis,

a chronic intestinal disease. Instead of

leaving in the afterglow of the Olympic

Games, he is departing amid a pandemic.

His successor will inherit the fight against

the virus, along with other challenges: an

economy battered by covid-19, a shrinking

population, the growing assertiveness of

China and an unpredictable ally in Ameri-

ca. Yet Mr Abe will be remembered as trans-

formative, not least because, after the dol-

drums of the “lost decades”, when the

economy stagnated, he fostered hope that

Japan’s problems could be solved. “Abe

changed the narrative,” says Mireya Solís of

the Brookings Institution, a think-tank. Al-

though his government’s approval rating

had been dire, in a poll after he resigned

74% of Japanese gave it their approval.

Mr Abe’s first stint as prime minister,

starting in 2006, lasted little more than a

year and was also ended by ill health. In the

next five years Japan cycled through five

prime ministers. Mr Abe’s Liberal Demo-

cratic Party (ldp) fell out of power for only

the second time since his grandfather

helped found it in 1955. By the time Mr Abe

returned to power, he had concluded that

he must have a convincing economic agen-

da to provide the popular support he need-

ed to pursue his foreign- and security-poli-

cy priorities.

Mr Abe moved first to centralise the ma-

chinery of the state. He created a personnel

bureau that gave politicians power to ap-

point bureaucrats, and set up a national se-

curity council. He increased the size of the

cabinet secretariat that directly supports

the prime minister by more than half. Ja-

pan had 16 prime ministers between 1989

and 2012, with an average tenure of 538

days; Mr Abe’s second term stretched for

more than 2,800 days. His ability to bal-

ance factions in his party and command

the civil service gave him a longevity that

bred credibility at home and abroad.

The trust Mr Abe earned from foreign

leaders enabled Japan to play a bigger role

in the world, while upholding the post-war

liberal order that has bolstered Japan’s

prosperity. He faced down the powerful

farm lobby and joined the Trans-Pacific

Partnership, a big regional trade pact, pro-

moting it even after America pulled out. He

inked an Economic Partnership Agreement

Japanese politics

A new story at last

TOKYO

Abe Shinzo has left a big mark on the country he has run for eight years

Asia

31 FeminisminPakistan

31 India’seconomyshrinksby24%

32 Taiwan’swoollyalliancewithAmerica

33 Banyan: Thailand’s new protesters

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