Abe Shinzō

Shinzō Abe
(安倍 晋三 Abe Shinzō (1954-)
is a Japanese politician serving
as Prime Minister
of Japan.

Abe is a conservative
whom political commentators
have widely described as
a right-wing
nationalist.

He is a member
of the revisionist Nippon Kaigi
and holds revisionist views on
Japanese
history,

including
denying the role
of government coercion
in the recruitment of
comfort women

during World War II,

a position
which has created
tension with neighboring
South Korea.

He is considered
a hard-liner with respect
to North Korea,

and advocates revising
Article 9 of the pacifist constitution
to permit Japan to maintain
military forces.

Early life and education

Shinzō Abe was born in Tokyo
to a politically prominent family.

His family is originally
from Yamaguchi Prefecture,
and Abe’s registered residence
(“honseki chi”)is Nagato, Yamaguchi,

where
his grandfather was born.
His grandfather, Kan Abe, and father,
Shintaro Abe, were both politicians.

His
great-great-
grandfather,

the Viscount
Yoshimasa Ōshima,

served as

General
in the Imperial
Japanese
Army.

Abe’s mother,
Yoko Kishi, is the daughter
of Nobusuke Kishi, prime minister
of Japan from 1957 to 1960.

Kishi had been a member
of the Tōjō Cabinet
during

the Second World War.

Since GHQ’s policy changed
and became more anti-communist,

Kishi was
released from
Sugamo Prison,

and later established
the Japan Democratic Party.
In his book Utsukushii Kuni e
(Toward a Beautiful Country),

Abe wrote,
“Some people used to
point to my grandfather
as a ‘Class-

A war criminal
suspect’,

and I felt strong
repulsion.

Because of that experience,
I may have become emotionally
attached to ‘conservatism’,
on the contrary.”

From: Encyclopedia.

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