Shinzo Abe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shinzo Abe
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安倍 晋三
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Official portrait, 2020
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| Prime Minister of Japan | |
| In office 26 December 2012 – 16 September 2020 |
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| Monarch | |
| Deputy | Tarō Asō |
| Preceded by | Yoshihiko Noda |
| Succeeded by | Yoshihide Suga |
| In office 26 September 2006 – 26 September 2007 |
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| Monarch | Akihito |
| Preceded by | Junichirō Koizumi |
| Succeeded by | Yasuo Fukuda |
| President of the Liberal Democratic Party | |
| In office 26 September 2012 – 14 September 2020 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| Prime Minister | Junichiro Koizumi |
| Preceded by | Hiroyuki Hosoda |
| Succeeded by | Yasuhisa Shiozaki |
| Member of the House of Representatives from Yamaguchi |
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| Assumed office 20 October 1996 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Constituency | 4th district |
| Majority | 86,258 (58.40%) |
| In office 18 July 1993 – 20 October 1996 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Masahiko Kōmura |
| Constituency | 1st district |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
安倍晋三 (Abe Shinzō)
21 September 1954 Tokyo, Japan |
| Died | July 8, 2022 (aged 67) Nara, Japan |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic |
| Spouse |
Akie Abe
(m. 1987) |
| Parents |
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| Alma mater |
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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.
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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
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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.
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.
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
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
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.
Related pages
- Abenomask
- Abenomics
Images for kids
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The site of Abe's assassination on 8 July 2022, just hours after the shooting
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The Abe family in 1956: his mother Yōko Abe, Shinzo Abe at the age of two (left), his father Shintarō Abe and his elder brother Hironobu
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Shinzo Abe (right), as Chief Cabinet Secretary, meets with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick in January 2006.
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Abe in 2006, during his first term as prime minister
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Abe and other candidates campaigning during the LDP presidential election in 2012. His chief rival, Shigeru Ishiba, is standing immediately to his right.
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Emperor Akihito formally appoints Abe to office as Prime Minister, 26 December 2012.
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaking at CSIS in Washington DC, in February 2013
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Haruhiko Kuroda, whom Abe appointed as Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) in spring 2013, has implemented the "first arrow" monetary policy.
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Abe's Minister of Finance Tarō Asō, who also serves as Deputy Prime Minister, in April 2017
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Akira Amari, who served as Abe's economy minister from 2012 to 2016, oversaw the "third arrow" growth strategy and negotiations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
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Prime Minister Abe with U.S. President Barack Obama in Tokyo in April 2014
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Abe with Argentine President, Mauricio Macri, Buenos Aires, 21 November 2016
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Abe Cabinet Approval Ratings since December 2012
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Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama review troops during the former's visit to Washington, D.C., in April 2015
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Shinzo Abe and Xi Jinping, April 2015
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Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump in February 2017
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Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2016. Japan has not yet signed a peace treaty with Russia to end World War II because of a Kuril Islands dispute
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Abe with U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, February 2017
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Abe speaking at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, in March 2016
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Abe developed close ties with then-U.S. President Donald Trump
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Abe and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November 2017
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Abe, as the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, with a group of students from Harvard University in March 2006. His future Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki (himself a graduate of Harvard University) is standing to his left.
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Abe attends a traditional Japanese wrestling tournament match with U.S. president Donald Trump.
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Abe campaigning in June 2010
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Shinzo Abe and wife Akie with the U.S. President George W. Bush and Laura Bush, 26 April 2007
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Gurtnyyaz Nurlyyewic Hanmyradow and Shinzo Abe in Turkmenistan
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See also
In Spanish: Shinzō Abe para niños
