The resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last Friday took many by surprise. But it wasn’t long before a host of observers in Japan and abroad had cobbled together various op-eds in praise of his years of leadership. For those abroad, especially for those who worked closely with him, Abe brought a level of engagement in world affairs that far outstripped that of his predecessors. For many Japanese at home, he brought political stability and steady governance. In both cases, Abe represented the possibility of a reinvigorated Japan.
But as he prepares to depart the Kantei, Japan faces considerable challenges. Three in particular will weigh on his successors. The first is the COVID-19 pandemic and the unavoidable economic setback it presents. Across the globe, leaders have struggled to contain this virus, and although Japanese citizens were disgruntled with what they saw as the Abe cabinet’s slow response to its spread, Japan has fared relatively well. Today, the Health and Welfare Ministry reports just over 70,000 cases of infection, with roughly 31 percent of those cases in Tokyo. The number of deaths from the coronavirus has also been low, with a rate of 1.9 percent, putting Japan at the lower end of the scale of global COVID-19 mortality rates.
