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Reflecting on Japan and Abe’s legacy
Understandably, Japanese people were seeking stability, and with almost eight years in office, Abe provided it.
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Japanese connection: Ginandjar Kartasasmita (right), chief patron of BPP Persada, an alumni group of Indonesian students who have studied in Japan, meets with then-Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta on Jan. 15, 2017. (Courtesy of /Ginandjar Kartasasmita)
T
he assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is a shock, but should not be seen as a sign of a crack in the social fabric of Japan. It is just an unfortunate, isolated incident, an individual act of a lone wolf from the fringe, which exists in any society.
However, it calls for a further look into Japan and Abe’s legacy.
His death -- gun crime is extremely rare in Japan -- stunned not only pacifist Japan, but caused ripples across the globe at a time of worldwide instability following the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Political dynasty
A political blue blood from a powerful family, Abe's grandfather Nobusuke Kishi served as prime minister and his father Shintaro Abe was a foreign minister. His granduncle Eisaku Sato had been the longest-serving prime minister, before Abe broke the record.
Indeed, Shinzo Abe came from the top of the heap in Japan's hierarchical society, born into the political dynasty dominant in Japanese politics.
