Shintaro Abe

Shintaro Abe (安倍 晋太郎, Abe Shintarō, April 29, 1924 – May 15, 1991)[1] was a Japanese politician from Yamaguchi Prefecture. He was a leading member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He served as foreign minister from 1982 to 1986.[2] He was the father of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

In this Japanese name, the surname is Abe.
Shintaro Abe
安倍 晋太郎
Abe in 1982
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
November 27, 1982 – July 22, 1986
Prime MinisterYasuhiro Nakasone
Preceded byYoshio Sakurauchi
Succeeded byTadashi Kuranari
Minister of International Trade and Industry
In office
November 30, 1981 – November 27, 1982
Prime MinisterZenkō Suzuki
Preceded byRokusuke Tanaka
Succeeded bySadanori Yamanaka
Chief Cabinet Secretary
In office
November 28, 1977 – December 7, 1978
Prime MinisterTakeo Fukuda
Preceded bySunao Sonoda
Succeeded byRokusuke Tanaka
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
In office
December 9, 1974 – September 15, 1976
Prime MinisterTakeo Miki
Preceded byTadao Kuraishi
Succeeded byBuichi Ōishi
Personal details
Born(1924-04-29)April 29, 1924
Tokyo City, Tokyo Prefecture
Empire of Japan
DiedMay 15, 1991(1991-05-15) (aged 67)
Tokyo, Japan
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party
SpouseYoko Kishi
Children
Parent(s)Kan Abe
Shizuko Abe
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo

Early life and education

Abe was born on April 29, 1924, in Tokyo, the eldest son of politician and member of Parliament Kan Abe. He was raised in his father's home prefecture of Yamaguchi from soon after his birth. His mother was an army general's daughter.[3]

Abe married Yoko Kishi, daughter of Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, in 1951.[2] His second son, Shinzo Abe, served as prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020.[4] His third son, Nobuo Kishi, was adopted by his brother-in-law shortly after birth, won a House of Representatives seat in 2012 and was appointed Minister of Defense in 2020.

Career
Abe and his family in 1956

After graduating from high school in 1944 during World War II, Abe entered a naval aviation school and volunteered to become a kamikaze pilot. The war ended before he could undergo the required training.[5] In 1949 he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, Shintaro Abe began his career as a political reporter for Mainichi Shimbun.[6] He became a politician in 1957, when he started working as a legislative aide of his father in-law, the then-prime minister Nobusuke Kishi.[6] He won his father's seat in the House of Representatives in 1958.[3]

He led a major LDP faction, the conservative Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai, whose reins he took from former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda in July 1986, and held a variety of ministerial and party posts, the former of which included Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and Minister of International Trade and Industry.[3] Abe was named as Minister of International Trade and Industry in the cabinet of the then prime minister Zenkō Suzuki on November 30, 1981.[7] During this period, he was seen as a young leader groomed for the future prime ministry.[7] In November 1982, he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of the then-prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, replacing Yoshio Sakurauchi. His term lasted until 1986.[2]

Meeting with Ronald Reagan in 1987

Abe was a top contender to succeed Nakasone as prime minister in 1987, until he stepped aside for Noboru Takeshita, head of a powerful rival faction. Then, he was given the post of secretary general of the party in 1987.[2] In 1988, his chances of becoming prime minister some time in the near future were again thwarted when his name became associated with the Recruit-Cosmos insider-trading stock scandal, which brought down Takeshita and forced Abe to resign as the party's secretary general in December 1988.[2]

Death

Shintaro Abe was hospitalized in January 1991.[3] He died at Tokyo's Juntendo University Hospital on May 15, 1991, aged 67. The cause of death was not officially announced, although various reports point to cancer, liver failure, or heart failure.[8][6][9]

Honours

From the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

References
  1. "Abe, Shintaro". Who Was Who in America, with World Notables, v. 10: 1989-1993. New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who's Who. 1993. p. 1. ISBN 0837902207.
  2. Yates, Ronald E. (May 16, 1991). "Shintaro Abe, 67". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  3. "Shintaro Abe; Ex-Japanese Foreign Minister". Los Angeles Times. Tokyo. May 16, 1991. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  4. "Profile: Shinzo Abe". BBC. December 17, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  5. Shintaro Abe, Japanese Politician And Ex-Cabinet Aide, Dies at 67, by James Sterngold, The New York Times, May 16, 1991
  6. "Shintaro Abe, Japanese Political Leader". The Seattle Times. May 15, 1991. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  7. "Japan's cabinet shuffled". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Tokyo. UPI. November 30, 1981. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  8. Sterngold, James (May 16, 1991). "Shintaro Abe, Japanese Politician And Ex-Cabinet Aide, Dies at 67". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  9. 日本人名大辞典+Plus, ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典,デジタル版. "安倍晋太郎とは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved July 17, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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