In This Biography

Shinzo Abe Biography, Age, Career, Death, Wife, Salary, and Net Worth.

Who is Shinzo Abe?

Shinzo Abe was a famous Japanese politician who served as the prime minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. Thus he was the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history. From 2005 to 2006, he served as Chief Cabinet Secretary under Junichiro Koizumi and was briefly the leader of the opposition in 2012.

Having been born into a well-known political family, he was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1993 election. In September 2005, he was appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi before replacing him as prime minister and LDP president in September 2006. After one year in office, he resigned as prime minister because of medical complications from ulcerative colitis, shortly after his party lost that year’s House of Councillors election. For this reason, he was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda.

Introduction to Knowing Shinzo Abe

After recovering from illness, he made an unexpected comeback where he defeated Shigeru Ishiiba. The former defense mister in a ballot to become LDP president for the second time in September 2012. Following the LDP’s landslide victory in the general election that December, he became the first prime minister to return to office since Shigeru Yoshida in 1948. He went on to lead the LDP to two further landslides in the 2014 and 2017 elections thus becoming Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. In August 2020, he announced his resignation as a prime minister citing a significant resurgence of his ulcerative colitis. On September 16, he tendered his resignation upon the Diet electing Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as his successor.

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In 2015, he proposed, advocated for, and successfully enacted security reform legislation to allow the Japanese to exercise collective security the passage of which was controversial and met with large protests. His premiership was internationally recognized for his government’s economic policies nicknamed Abenomics which pursued monetary easing, fiscal stimulus, and structural reforms. On July 8, 2022, he was assassinated with a firearm while delivering a campaign speech in Nara.

How Old Is Shinzo Abe?

He was 67 years old at the time of his assassination on July 8, 2022. Having been born on September 21, 1954, in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Shinzo shared his birthdate with celebrities such as; Abby Lee Miller, Jason Derulo, Stephen King, Cory Hunter-Winn, Jena Frumes, and many more.

Shinzo Abe Family

Who are Shinzo Abe’s Parents?

He was born to Shintaro Abe (Father, born on April 29, 1924, but died on May 15, 1991) a Japanese politician from Yamaguchi Prefecture. And Yoko Kishi (Mother).

Does Shinzo Abe have Siblings?

He has two siblings, two brothers by the name of Hinorobu Abe (born on May 30, 1952) a businessperson. And Nobuo Kishi (born on April 1, 1959) is a Japanese politician.

Shinzo Abe Education

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He received his elementary and high school education at Seikei Elementary School and Seikei Junior and Senior High School. After high school, he studied public administration and graduated in 1977. With a bachelor’s degree in political science from Seikei University. Later, he studied public policy at the University of Southern California’s School of Policy, Planning, and Development. (now the USC Prime School of Public Policy) for three semesters.

Shinzo Abe’s Marital Status

He was married to the love of his life, Akie Abe (born on June 10, 1962) a Japanese radio DJ. They were married from 1987 until Shinzo’s assassination in 2022.

Shinzo Abe Kids

He and his wife had no kids together. And he did not have any kids either.

Shinzo Abe Career

A Career as a Member of the House of Representatives

In 1991 after his father’s death, Abe was elected to the first district of Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1993. Winning most of the votes of the four Representatives elected in the SNTV multi-member district. He went on to become Director of the Social Affairs Division in 1999. From 2000 to 2003, he was Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi Cabinets, after which he was appointed Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party. In 2000, his home and the office of his supporters in Shimonoseki, in Yamaguchi Prefecture were attacked with Molotov cocktails on numerous occasions.

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The attackers were several Yakuza members belonging to the Kudo-kai. The reason for the attack was believed to be that Abe’s local side refused to give cash to a Shimononeski real estate broker in return for supporting a Shimonoseki mayoral candidate in 1999. For the Japanese government, he was the chief negotiator on behalf of the families of Japanese abductees taken to North Korea. In 2002, as part of this effort, he accompanied Koizumi to meet Kim Jong-il. On April 23, 2006, he was elected as the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. His immediate competitors for the position were Sadakazu Tanigaki and Taro Aso. Yasuo Fukuda who was a leading early contender ultimately chose not to run.

A Career in the First term as Prime Minister (2006 to 2007)

Abe was inaugurated as Japanese Prime Minister on September 26, 2006. Elected at the age of 52 he was the youngest prime minister since Fumimaro Konoe in 1941.

A Domestic Policy

With him as prime minister, he took some steps toward balancing the Japanese budget such as appointing tax policy expert Koji Omo as Minister of Finance. Previously Omi supported increases in the national consumption tax although Abe distanced himself from this policy and sought to achieve much of his budget-balancing through spending cuts. As the bureau chief of the “Institute of Junior Assembly Members Who Think About the Outlook of Japan and History Education”, since 1997, Abe supported the controversial Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform and the New History Textbook. He along with right-wing politicians in March 2007. Proposed a bill to encourage nationalism and a “love for one’s country and hometown” among the Japanese youth (specific wording from the revised “Fundamental Law of Education”.

A Foreign Policy for North Korea

Abe generally took a hard-line stance with respect to North Korea, especially regarding the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens. In negotiations between Japan and North Korea, Prime Minister Koizumi and General Secretary Kim Jong-il 2002, agreed to give abductees permission to visit Japan. A few weeks into the visit, the Japanese government decided. That the abductees would be restricted from returning to North Korea where their families live. As a result, North Korea criticized this Japanese decision as a breach of a diplomatic promise and thus the negotiations were aborted.

India

In his two terms as the prime minister of Japan, he sought to upgrade the strategic Japan-India relationship. And thus initiated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between Japan, the United States, Australia, and India in 2007. In August 2007, his three-day visit to India, inaugurated a new bilateral Asian alliance, building on the long history of friendly bilateral relations between India and Japan.

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Defense

During his first tenure as prime minister, he upgraded the Japan Defense Agency to full ministry status. Just like his predecessors, he supported the Japanese alliance with the United States.

A Career Unpopularity and Resignation

His ruling LDP suffered great losses in the upper house election thus making it the first time it had lost control in 52 years. Norihiko Akagi (another agricultural minister) who was involved in a political funding scandal resigned after the election. In an attempt to revive his administration, on August 27, 2007, Abe announced a new cabinet. However, after only seven days the new agricultural minister Takehiko Endo involved in a finance scandal resigned. Three days only after a new parliamentary session had begun, on September 12, 2007, he announced his intention to resign as prime minister at an unscheduled press conference. Thus he ended his term on September 26, 2007, and Yasuo Fukuda became the new prime minister of Japan. Later he revealed that the illness that contributed to ending his first term as prime minister was ulcerative colitis.

A Second LDP Presidency and 2012 general election Career

On September 26, 2012, he was re-elected as president of the party following the resignation of LDP president Sadakazu Tanigaki. Abe returned to the LDP leadership at a time of political turmoil as the governing DPJ had lost its majority in the lower house. Due to party splits over nuclear policies and the cabinet’s move to raise the consumption tax from 5 to 10 percent. Prime Minister Noda announced on November 16, 2012, the dissolution of the lower house and that the general election would be held on December 16. Thus on the December 16, 2012 elections the LDP won 294 seats in the 480-seat House of Representatives.

A Career Second term as Prime Minister (2012 to 2014)

For a second time Abe was formally elected as prime minister by the Diet on December 26, 2012m with the support of 328 out of 480 members of the House of Representatives. Later that day, he and his second cabinet which he called a “crisis-busting cabinet”, were sworn in. He then gave an address in February 2013 at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., in which he explained his economic and diplomatic objectives, and that he had returned to the Prime Ministership to prevent Japan from becoming a “Tier Two Nation”, declaring that “Japan is back”.

A Domestic Policy Career

His return to the position of Prime Minister saw a renewed attempt to downplay Japan’s wartime atrocities in school textbooks, an issue that had contributed to his earlier downfall. He went on to support the creation of the Top Global University Project program in 2013. This is a ten-year program to increase international student attendance in Japanese universities and hire more foreign faculty. The next year in 2014, he allocated millions of dollars of the fiscal budget to help programs that help single individuals from Japan find potential mates.

A Defense and Security policy

Abe announced in December 2013 a five-year plan of military expansion. He went on to describe this as “proactive pacificism” with the goal of making Japan a more “normal” country, able to defend itself. That month also, the Diet passed the Abe cabinet’s State Secrecy Law which took effect in December 2014. In his cabinet in July 2014, took the decision to re-interpret Japan’s constitution to allow for the right of “Collective Self-Defense”. This would therefore allow the Self Defense Forces to come to the aid of, and defend, an ally under attack. Whereas the previous interpretation of the constitution was strictly pacifist and allowed for the force to be used only in absolute self-defense. Moreover, the United States supported the decision. Which has argued for greater scope for action by Japan as a regional ally and led to a revision of the U.S. -Japan defense cooperation guidelines in 2015.

A 2014 Cabinet Reshuffle

In December 2012, the cabinet inaugurated was the longest-serving and most stable in post-war Japanese history. Lasting 617 days without a change in personnel until Abe conducted a reshuffle in September 2014. The aim was to promote more women into ministerial posts. As the reshuffled cabinet tied the record of 5 women ministers set by the first Koizumi cabinet. However, on October 20, two of the women were promoted in the reshuffle. Justice Minister Midori Matsushima and Trade Minister Yuko Obuchi were forced to resign in separate election finance scandals.
A Third term Career as Prime Minister (2014 to 2017)
He was again re-elected to the position of Prime Minister on December 24, 2014, by the House of Representatives. When introducing his third cabinet, the only change he made was replacing defense minister Akinori Eto who was involved in a political funding controversy with Gen Nakatani.

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A Career Re-election as LDP President and “Abenomics 2.0”

Abe was re-elected as president of the LDP in an uncontested election in September 2015. After LDP Diet member Seiko Noda failed to garner enough support to stand as a candidate. Following his re-election, he carried out a cabinet reshuffle. Once again keeping the key ministers of Finance, Economy, Foreign Affairs, and the Chief Cabinet Secretary in post. In addition, he went on to create a new ministerial position for the coordination of policies.

Related to the economy, population decline, and social security reform which was failed by Katsunobu Kato. After his re-election as LDP president, he announced at a press conference that the next stage of his administration would focus on what he called “Abenomics 2.0”. The aim of which was to tackle issues of low fertility and an aging population and create a society. “In which each and every one of Japan’s 100 million citizens can take on active roles”.

This new policy, therefore, consisted of targets which he referred to as “three new arrows”, to boost Japan’s GDP to 600 trillion yen by 2021, to raise the national fertility rate from an average of 1.4 to 1. 8 children per woman, and stabilize the population at 100 million. And create a situation where people would not have to leave employment in order to care for elderly relatives by the mid-2020s.

The two parties making up Abe’s governing coalition agreed in December 2015. To introduce a reduced rate of consumption tax for food when the anticipated tax increase from 8 to 10 percent takes place in April 2017. Abe then declared the tax deal to be “the best possible result” of the negotiations.

A fourth term as Prime Minister (2017 to 2020)

The 2017 general election was held on October 22. And Prime Minister Abe called the snap election on September 25, while the North Korean crisis was prominent in the news media. Thus he was re-elected again as leader of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party on September 20, 2018. He went on to become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister on November 19, 2019. Thus surpassing the 2,833-day record of Katsuro Taro. On August 24, 2020, he became the longest-serving prime minister in terms of consecutive days in office. Thus surpassing Eisaku Sato’s 2,798-day record.

Shinzo Abe Retirement

In June 2020, his ulcerative colitis relapsed which resulted in his health deteriorating through the summer. Following several hospital visits. On August 28, 2020, he announced that he intended to retire as prime minister. Citing his inability to carry out the duties of the office while seeking treatment for his condition. During the press conference announcing his retirement. He indicated that he would remain in office until a successor was chosen by the LDP, but declined to endorse any specific successor. On September 14, 2020, Yoshihide Suga was elected as his successor by the LDP. And took office as prime minister on September 16.