The sudden resignation of Japan's longest-serving PM was probably triggered by the realisation that COVID-19 spelt the end for his cherished objective to lift the post-WWII constraints on Japan's role in the world.
On August 28, four days after he set the record for the longest consecutive tenure of a Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe suddenly announced his resignation. Despite rumours about his health, he seemed to catch even his closest colleagues off guard.
In explaining his decision, Abe cited recurrence of ulcerative colitis, which also forced him to resign from his first stint in the top job in 2007. Yet a number of other factors must have weighed on Abe’s prime ministership before his health issues came to the fore.
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Ben Ascione is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University. He is also the Japan editor at East Asia Forum and a research associate at the Japan Centre for International Exchange.
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.
