Shinzo Abe Steps Down: Japan’s Road Into the Future
Written By: Zachary Lapidante & Sushrita Rakshit
Edited By: Natalia Velychko
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent news of resignation due to health concerns has reached all corners of the globe, resulting in deep concern about Japan’s future. Abe was largely admired by both the Japanese and international countries, primarily due to his revolutionary “Abenomics” approach to restoring Japan’s economy and his actions in boosting relations within the international scene. Current concerns revolve around whether Yoshihide Suga will carry forward Abe’s economic and political strategies.
Since his election into power by the Japanese Diet, a section of Japan’s government established during the Meiji Restoration, Abe has emphasized a primary focus around Japan’s economic sectors. In 2012, Abe revolutionized Japan’s economy through his “Abenomics,” created by Abe himself to combat Japan’s increasing recession, which began two decades ago. Through these economic policies, Abe aimed to increase competition within the market, reform it, and increase the trading partners Japan had. Abenomics placed heavy emphasis on its policies referred to as the “three arrows.” The first arrow was based on “Fiscal Stimulus” or spendings directly coming from the government to better domestic construction projects (Abenomics and the Japanese Economy). The second arrow is widely referred to as the “Unorthodox Monetary Policy” and is used only in times of a dire economy (Abenomics and the Japanese Economy). It resulted in the Bank of Japan introducing small amounts of money into its system (Hayes). The third and final arrow is called “Structural Reform.” It is primarily aimed at increasing the competition within Japan’s market economy by slashing different types of regulations and giving different work sectors greater economic liberties (Abenomics and the Japanese Economy). Despite Abe’s methods of wanting to revive the economy from its two-decade stagnation, there is still much controversy over the last two arrows, resulting in a lack of implementation. This creates a sense of concern from the public on whether future Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will progress with Abenomics during this pandemic or whether his economic approaches and policies will drastically shift.
During his terms as Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe vastly improved relations with the U.S during both Obama and Trump’s administrations. He became the first foreign leader to meet with the newly elected President, Donald Trump, in the United States. He went above and beyond to maintain a strong relationship with the U.S as can be seen in his choices like making sure to create a new free trade treaty just between Japan and the U.S. to lower any trade tensions between the two countries.
However, much less praise can be said about his choices in dealing with South Korea. With a miserable 3% approval rating amongst South Korean citizens, Abe’s was lower than that of Kim Jong Un. This hate comes from many of his choices, one of them being his right-winged revisionist views on Japan’s imperial legacy, stating how he admired his grandfather, who was imprisoned for Class A war-crimes, or crimes against humanity (genocide), during WWII. He has openly stated that many of Japan’s war crimes were fabricated, including the Rape of Nanking. This extreme revisionist view of history has soured Japanese and South Korean relations.
With a series of unresolved economic promises left abruptly by Shinzo Abe as well as the conflict of Japan relations within Eastern Asia, many are questioning what Yoshihide Suga will bring to the government. Will there be a complete radicalization of Abe’s previous political relations? Will there be an alteration in Japanese and US relations? Will Yoshihide Suga continue implementing the infamous Abenomics? With 2020 bringing multiple unexpected occurrences, we’ll have to sit back and find out.
Additional Research Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/30/opinions/japan-us-relations-shinzo-abe-sracic/index.html
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022415/how-unconventional-monetary-policy-works.asp
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/abenomics-and-japanese-economy
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/21/asia/japan-name-abe-shinzo-intl/index.html
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/04/shinzo-abe-japan-south-korea-war-nationalism/
Image Source:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/shinzo-abes-legacy-11598655421
Since his election into power by the Japanese Diet, a section of Japan’s government established during the Meiji Restoration, Abe has emphasized a primary focus around Japan’s economic sectors. In 2012, Abe revolutionized Japan’s economy through his “Abenomics,” created by Abe himself to combat Japan’s increasing recession, which began two decades ago. Through these economic policies, Abe aimed to increase competition within the market, reform it, and increase the trading partners Japan had. Abenomics placed heavy emphasis on its policies referred to as the “three arrows.” The first arrow was based on “Fiscal Stimulus” or spendings directly coming from the government to better domestic construction projects (Abenomics and the Japanese Economy). The second arrow is widely referred to as the “Unorthodox Monetary Policy” and is used only in times of a dire economy (Abenomics and the Japanese Economy). It resulted in the Bank of Japan introducing small amounts of money into its system (Hayes). The third and final arrow is called “Structural Reform.” It is primarily aimed at increasing the competition within Japan’s market economy by slashing different types of regulations and giving different work sectors greater economic liberties (Abenomics and the Japanese Economy). Despite Abe’s methods of wanting to revive the economy from its two-decade stagnation, there is still much controversy over the last two arrows, resulting in a lack of implementation. This creates a sense of concern from the public on whether future Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will progress with Abenomics during this pandemic or whether his economic approaches and policies will drastically shift.
During his terms as Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe vastly improved relations with the U.S during both Obama and Trump’s administrations. He became the first foreign leader to meet with the newly elected President, Donald Trump, in the United States. He went above and beyond to maintain a strong relationship with the U.S as can be seen in his choices like making sure to create a new free trade treaty just between Japan and the U.S. to lower any trade tensions between the two countries.
However, much less praise can be said about his choices in dealing with South Korea. With a miserable 3% approval rating amongst South Korean citizens, Abe’s was lower than that of Kim Jong Un. This hate comes from many of his choices, one of them being his right-winged revisionist views on Japan’s imperial legacy, stating how he admired his grandfather, who was imprisoned for Class A war-crimes, or crimes against humanity (genocide), during WWII. He has openly stated that many of Japan’s war crimes were fabricated, including the Rape of Nanking. This extreme revisionist view of history has soured Japanese and South Korean relations.
With a series of unresolved economic promises left abruptly by Shinzo Abe as well as the conflict of Japan relations within Eastern Asia, many are questioning what Yoshihide Suga will bring to the government. Will there be a complete radicalization of Abe’s previous political relations? Will there be an alteration in Japanese and US relations? Will Yoshihide Suga continue implementing the infamous Abenomics? With 2020 bringing multiple unexpected occurrences, we’ll have to sit back and find out.
Additional Research Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/30/opinions/japan-us-relations-shinzo-abe-sracic/index.html
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/022415/how-unconventional-monetary-policy-works.asp
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/abenomics-and-japanese-economy
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/21/asia/japan-name-abe-shinzo-intl/index.html
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/04/shinzo-abe-japan-south-korea-war-nationalism/
Image Source:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/shinzo-abes-legacy-11598655421