AP

A timeline of the career of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe

Jul 7, 2022, 11:54 AM | Updated: Jul 8, 2022, 5:45 am

In this image from a video, Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes a campaign speech in N...

In this image from a video, Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes a campaign speech in Nara, western Japan shortly before he was shot Friday, July 8, 2022. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a divisive arch-conservative and one of his nation's most powerful and influential figures, has died after being shot during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan, hospital officials said.(Kyodo News via AP)

(Kyodo News via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Born into a prominent political family, Shinzo Abe, who was fatally shot at a campaign event Friday in western Japan, had been the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

While credited with bringing a degree of stability to Japan following a period of economic malaise and constant turnover among leaders, Abe angered neighbors South Korea and China — along with many Japanese — with his nationalistic rhetoric and calls to revise the country’s pacifist constitution.

Here is a look at some key dates in Abe’s life and career.

Sept. 21, 1954: Abe is born in Tokyo, the son of Shintaro Abe, who served as Japan’s foreign minister, and grandson of Nobusuke Kishi, a former prime minister.

1977: Graduates from Seikei University in Tokyo with a degree in political science, after which he moves to the U.S. to study public policy at the University of Southern California for three semesters.

1979: Begins working at Kobe Steel as the firm was expanding its presence abroad.

1982: Leaves the company to pursue new positions at the Foreign Ministry and with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

1993: First elected as a LDP legislator representing the southwestern prefecture of Yamaguchi. Abe, already viewed as a conservative, becomes a member of and eventually leads the party’s largest faction, Seiwakai, that had once been headed by his father, who died in 1991.

2005: Abe is appointed chief cabinet secretary under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, during which he leads negotiations to return Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea. The same year, he is elected head of the LDP, putting him in line to take over as prime minister.

Sept. 26, 2006: Abe becomes Japan’s prime minister for the first time, overseeing economic reforms while taking a hard line on North Korea and seeking to engage with South Korea and China.

2007: Following electoral defeats that saw the LDP lose control of the legislature for the first time in 52 years, Abe resigns as prime minister, citing health reasons. Abe has been suffering from ulcerative colitis but was able to control it with medication.

2012: After again being elected LDP president, Abe becomes prime minister for the second time.

2013: Seeking to boost growth, Abe launches his “Abenomics” policies featuring easy lending and structural reforms. Japan’s relations with China undergo a particularly rough patch but begin to improve after Abe meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Beijing.

2014-2020: Re-elected LDP leader, he serves two additional terms as prime minister for a total of four, during which he develops close relations with then-president Donald Trump, holding summits and golfing together.

Aug. 28, 2020: Announces he will step down as prime minister, again citing health reasons, after his ulcerative colitis flares up again. By that point, Abe had already become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.

2021: Despite leaving office, Abe shows he can still rile up Beijing with comments on Taiwan, the self-governing island China claims as its own territory and threatens to attack. In a speech, Abe warned that “military adventure would lead to economic suicide.”

July 8, 2022: Abe is fatally shot while giving a speech at a campaign event in the city of Nara. Police arrest a male suspect but no motive was immediately known.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

14 hours ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

15 hours ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

15 hours ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

4 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

6 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

6 days ago

A timeline of the career of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe