Shinzo Abe: Investing in the Past, Ignoring the Future

Shinzo Abe: Investing in the Past, Ignoring the Future – Robert Dujarric offers a critique of Prime Minister Abe’s policy priorities, arguing that Abe was too preoccupied with Japan’s past and not focused enough on securing its future. During his second term, Abe devoted political energy to historical and ideological issues—such as seeking to revise the pacifist constitution, reaffirming conservative narratives of WWII history, and visiting Yasukuni Shrine. Dujarric contends that these “investments in the past” satisfied Abe’s nationalist base but did little to tackle Japan’s forward-looking challenges like economic innovation, an aging society, or educational reform.

The article points out that while Abe pursued these legacy projects, structural problems – stagnant productivity, low birthrates, underutilization of women in the workforce – remained insufficiently addressed. Dujarric suggests that Abe’s time and political capital would have been better spent on bold measures to revitalize Japan (the “future”), rather than revisiting symbols of the “Showa” era. He warns that ignoring domestic reforms and societal needs in favor of nostalgic endeavors could leave Japan ill-prepared for the coming decades. Ultimately, the piece portrays Abe’s governance as imbalanced: heavy on restoring an idealized past image of Japan, but light on preparing the nation for the very real tests looming ahead.