On Friday August 28, PM Shinzo Abe announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Japan. Abe, a part of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is Japan’s longest serving prime minister in consecutive terms with an almost eight-year tenure. Citing health problems, Abe officially announced his resignation at a news conference at 5pm.
This is Abe’s second term in office. His initial 366-day term in 2006 was terminated due to chronic ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease. At the time, Abe was the youngest serving post-war prime minister at 52 years old. Abe started his second term in 2012 and introduced Abenomics to boost Japan’s economy. Abenomics strived to achieve sustainable growth and realise ‘society 5.0’, a connected, organised society using technology and data. Other Abenomics goals included employing more women, decreasing the unemployment rate and increasing the GDP. The consumption tax was also increased twice under Abe’s term, to 8 percent in April 2014 and again to 10 percent in October 2019.
Dressed as Super Mario, Abe represented Tokyo at the 2016 Rio Olympics closing ceremony. In the segment (at the 1:50:00 mark), Abe as Mario races through Shibuya, and using Mario’s famous green tubes, miraculously appears in Rio. In March, Abe and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) continued to plan the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games despite the coronavirus situation, but eventually changed course due to the increasing severity of the pandemic.
Abe and his cabinet's handling of the Covid-19 coronavirus, with initiatives such as free face masks, nationwide state of emergency in April and the Go to Travel domestic tourism campaign, has received mixed responses from the public.
Abe will continue to serve as prime minister until a replacement is chosen. In total, Abe has served 2,799 days in office. His current term was expected to end in September 2021.
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