Kishida was better on the foreign stage than at home
The outgoing Japanese PM strengthened international ties and was decisive on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, he missed the opportunity to fix the economy.
By the end of this month, Japan will have a new prime minister, after Fumio Kishida announced his departure in mid-August.
Kishida lasted almost three years at the helm, becoming Japan’s eighth-longest-serving post-war prime minister. He was never really popular, and former prime minister Shinzo Abe cast a long shadow over his premiership, as he does over Japanese politics. This is especially true after Abe’s assassination in July 2022.
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Shiro Armstrong is a professor and director of the Australia–Japan Research Centre at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.
