Shinzō Abe

Who is Shinzō Abe?

Shinzō Abe is the Prime Minister of Japan, and has held office since December 2012. He is the President of the Liberal Democratic Party and chairman of the Oyagaku propulsion parliamentary group.

Abe became the 90th Japanese Prime Minister when he was elected by a special session of the National Diet on 26 September 2006. He became Japan's youngest prime minister since World War II, and is the first to be born after the war. Abe served as prime minister for less than a year, resigning on 12 September 2007. He was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda, beginning a string of Prime Ministers, none of whom retained office for more than one year.

On 26 September 2012, Abe defeated former Minister of Defense Shigeru Ishiba in a run-off vote to win the LDP presidential election. Abe became the Prime Minister again on 26 December 2012, following the LDP's landslide victory in the 2012 general election. He is the first former Prime Minister to return to the office since Shigeru Yoshida in 1948.

In Korea and China, Abe is viewed as a right-wing nationalist, and holds views that have sparked anger on neighbourhood countries.