Abe Legacy

James D.J. Brown is associate professor of Political Science at Temple University, Japan Campus.Guibourg Delamotte is Senior Lecturer of Political science at the Japanese studies department of the French Institute of Oriental Studies (Inalco).Robert Dujarric is co-director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University, Japan Campus.

• Introduction: Eight Years in Power: Assessing Prime Minister Abe’s Legacy by James Brown, Guibourg Delamotte, and Robert DujarricChapter 1: Transformation of Domestic Politics: Abe’s Durable Legacy? By Nonaka NaotoChapter 2: Abe Shinzo's Economic Legacy by R. Taggart MurphyChapter 3: Pandemic Downsizes Prime Minister Abe Shinzo by Jeff KingstonChapter 4: Gender Policies and Conservative Values by Murakami HiromiChapter 5: Prime Minister Abe’s Security Policy: a Broader Spectrum by Guibourg DelamotteChapter 6: Japanese Military Diplomacy: Abe’s Security Legacy? By Alessio PatalanoChapter 7: Japan-US Relations by Minohara ToshihiroChapter 8: Japan’s Diplomacy toward China under the Abe Shinzo Administration by Soeya YoshihideChapter 9: Recriminations & Deepened Distrust: Assessing PM Abe’s Legacy of Mismanaging Japan-ROK Relations by Laney Bahan and David Satter WhiteChapter 10: Abe Shinzo and the Securitization of Japan-North Korea Relations by Benoît Hardy-ChartrandChapter 11: Testing a

This multi-authored book focuses upon the period of Japanese politics in which Abe Shinzo was prime minister (2012-2020). By contrast with previous decades the 2010s were a period of relative political stability. Much of this stability may be explained by the transformation of Japanese politics from a system of pluralistic factional politics within the ‘ruling’ Liberal Democratic Party, to a system of centralized power based on the Kantei (prime minister’s office). This radical change, ably explained in Chapter 1, forms the essential political background for subsequent chapters, on Abe’s economic legacy, handling of the pandemic, gender policies, transformation of security policy, Japanese relations with the United States, China, North and South Korea, Russia, the Middle East and Africa. The book concludes with chapters assessing the impact of the Abe prime ministership on Japanese foreign policy in general and Japan’s image in the outside world. The Abe period was obviously a crucial one for Japan, but also deeply controversial. This book provides the reader with a clear understanding of the complexities involved.