Aug. 24 marked the 2,799th day of the current administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, making him Japan's longest continuously serving prime minister. The Yomiuri Shimbun is looking back on the policies his administration has taken up, and explore issues that lie ahead.
A blue ribbon shone on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's lapel on the evening of Aug. 28, when he held a press conference to announce his intention to step down, just four days after setting a new Japanese record for most consecutive days in office.
The ribbon, which he has faithfully worn, is a symbol of the nation's movement to rescue Japanese nationals who were abducted by North Korea.
After explaining the health condition that led him to resign, Abe said, "It is a matter of the greatest regret that I was unable to resolve the abduction issue by my own hand."
-- Sense of mission
For Abe, efforts to resolve the abduction issue can be described as his lifework.
In 2002, when Pyongyang admitted that it had abducted Japanese nationals, then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited North Korea. Abe accompanied Koizumi as deputy chief cabinet secretary.
When some of the abductees made temporary returns to Japan later, Abe played a leading role in persuading them to remain in Japan permanently and calling over their family members from North Korea. Abe's resolute attitude attracted attention from the public.
In his policy speech in 2012, after he took the post of the prime minister for the second time, Abe emphatically stated, "My mission does not end until the day when all family members of the abducted people will be able to hold tight their blood relatives in their own arms."
In negotiations between the Japanese and North Korean governments in Stockholm in 2014, the two sides agreed that Pyongyang would conduct "thorough research" on the fates of abductees, including missing Japanese probably related to North Korea.
But North Korea declared in 2016 it had halted a second round of such research. In 2017, North Korea resumed its nuclear weapons tests and firing of ballistic missiles. Thus the situation on the Korean Peninsula became tense.
-- Families' wait goes on
In 2018, the United States and North Korea showed signs of holding dialogue, and Abe began lobbying leaders of other countries.
During the first-ever summit meeting between the United States and North Korea, held in Singapore in June that year, U.S. President Donald Trump, at the request of Abe, said to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the abduction issue should be resolved.
Abe himself remarked in May 2019, "I will directly face [North Korea] without setting any conditions," shifting to a stance that he aimed to hold a summit meeting between Japan and North Korea with no strings attached.
However, the U.S.-North Korea dialogue has been deadlocked, and realization of a Japan-North Korea summit meeting is not in sight.
In February this year, Kayoko Arimoto, mother of abductee Keiko Arimoto, died.
In June, Shigeru Yokota, father of abductee Megumi Yokota, died.
In July, Tamotsu Chimura, father of abductee Yasushi Chimura, also died.
With the surviving family members of abductees continuing to age, Abe expressed his difficult feeling at a press conference on Aug. 28.
Abe said, "Through various approaches, the abduction issue has been recognized internationally. But, even if I can say I made utmost efforts, there have not been any results for all the family members."
-- Deadlock over 2 isles
In addition to the abduction issue, Abe had been highly enthusiastic in resolving the issue of the northern territories. It is a long-cherished desire that he inherited from his father, Shintaro Abe, who served as the foreign minister.
In November 2018, when he held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Singapore, Abe agreed to accelerate the negotiation based on a 1956 Japan-Soviet Union joint statement.
Abe took a brave action in effectively shelving the policy of demanding the return of all four islands -- Etorofu, Kunashiri, the Habomai islets and Shikotan -- and instead proceeded with the negotiation centering on the handover of two of the four islands, as the joint statement stipulates that Russia will hand over the Habomai islets and Shikotan Island after the two countries sign a peace treaty.
Even knowing that he would be criticized, Abe made the bet because Putin had suddenly proposed signing a peace treaty "without conditions and by the end of this year" when they held talks two months earlier in Vladivostok, Russia. Abe interpreted the remark as a positive "sign."
The two leaders had held repeated dialogues in which they talked face-to-face with only interpreters present, and have fostered their trustful relationship.
Abe's strategy was taking a "new approach" in which Japan would first conduct joint economic and other activities, and then make progress in the northern territories negotiation.
Even while making the policy shift to demand return of the two islands, which can be seen a de facto compromise, Abe enthusiastically aimed to make progress in the negotiation about the territories.
-- Misreading Putin
Abe repeatedly emphasized, "In the hands of Mr. Putin and myself, the issue will surely be concluded." However, negotiations with Russia, which started in January last year based on the agreement, have stalled.
Since September last year, no summit meeting between the two leaders has been held.
Russia has become increasingly hard-line on the territorial issue. In July this year, Russia's revised Constitution, which prohibits the ceding of territory, was approved.
Putin's political foothold is not rock-solid partly because of the country's sluggish economy. Therefore, it is unlikely for the time being that a compromise on the northern territories issue will be reached, as it might result in a fall in Putin's support rates.
After the sudden announcement of Abe's resignation, a government source said: "He misread the real intention of the Russian side, and presented the bargain chip of demanding return of the two islands too early. The change in the person serving in the prime minister's post will make the territorial issue negotiation more difficult than before."
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