Shinzo Abe's influence was still evident long after he left office
Nor did he restore Japan's technological edge and economic prowess to the fearsome levels of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Japan was regarded as China is today – as the world's No. 2 economy that, with organization and cu But his assassination in the city of Nara on Friday was a reminder that he managed, nonetheless, to become perhaps the most transformational politician in Japan's post-World War II history, even as he spoke in the maddeningly bland terms that Japanese politicians regard as a survival skill.
He created Japan's first national security council and reinterpreted – almost by fiat – the constitutional restrictions he could not rewrite, so that for the first time Japan was committed to the “collective defense” of its allies. He spent more on defense than most Japanese politicians thought wise.
His efforts to loosen the rest In 2012, as Abe returned to the prime minister's office, President Barack Obama's aides worried he was too hawkish, but over time they warmed to him. Obama and Abe traveled to Hiroshima to lay a wreath at the site where the United States dropped the first atomic bomb, a politically risky appearance for both men.
When Trump was elected, Abe pivoted. In addition to showing up at Trump Tower with a gold-plated golf club, he traveled to Mar-a-Lago in Florida to celebrate the birthday of Me .. Link