As he desperately tries to survive the ruling party’s political funds scandal, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared that he “will act as a fireball at the forefront of the Liberal Democratic Party and work to restore the trust of the people.” Most analysts, however, see this administration in the midst of a spectacular flameout.
The ghost of Shinzo Abe’s political and financial corruption has again risen up to haunt his successors, staggering the already weak administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The Kishida government has declared that all Japan taxpayers have a “responsibility” to support its policy of dramatically increasing military expenditures, accepting the premise that Japan’s neighbors are likely to launch an armed attack unless deterred from doing so. This marks the effective end of “New Capitalism.”
Unemployed loner Tetsuya Yamagami hoped to use his homemade shotgun on Shinzo Abe not mainly to kill Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, but to take his revenge on the Unification Church, which he blamed for destroying his life and that of his family. Improbably, the assassination has become a wild political success.
Dateline Tokyo, our series of short reports on major news developments in Japan, for August 2020
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of August 2020.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of July 2020.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of May 2020.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of October 2019.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the second half of September 2019.
