Why Abe is much more highly praised abroad than in Japan

Obviously Bill has visited Japan to have witnessed the rise of poverty, homelessness on the streets,bankruptcies,school closures, lack of resources and the general mismanagement of the economy.

It is not only Abe but the LDP that has run the country down…

I'm not having this.

He wasn't highly praised abroad

I thought his popularity abroad was due to the fact that he spent most of his time traveling and giving large amounts of money to foreign governments.

There is a video of the G7 or G20 photo opportunity can’t remember what one. But not a single leader talked or interacted with HIM. It looked very uncomfortable. People confuse manners with honesty.

-Abe left Japan largely where he found it: as in effect a cheap labor economy with 40 percent of the workforce on short-term and nonregular contracts,

-The Bank of Japan innovated through its much more aggressive monetary policy, essentially providing direct financing to public spending

Corporations left flush with cash, much from the public treasury and a further impoverished population.

Neo-feudal mission accomplished for Abe.

He cared more about his image abroad than at home which is a typical cultural trait.

Because people abroad don't know anything about him? Moritomo?

John NounToday  07:15 am JST

I'm not having this.

He wasn't highly praised abroad

You don't follow the news?

Abe left Japan largely where he found it: as in effect a cheap labor economy with 40 percent of the workforce on short-term and nonregular contracts, declining marriage and birth rates, and chronically depressed household demand.

Please, he left it on worse condition! He was a master at pulling the wool over people's eyes and his showmanship was appealing to the likes of Trump and others!

It is in foreign and security policy that Mr. Abe's legacy really lies

Really? 27 meetings in 10 years with Putin that achieved absolutely nothing isn't much of a legacy. Perhaps giving vast sums of money to his best mate in Africa Robert Mugabe is counted as a success?

Good article, and spot on regarding Abenomics, which was sold well initially but turned out 2 years later to be good talk with no substance behind it.

One thing that was good about Abe from my point of view, and in contrast to other western leaders, was Abe knew that Japan and America needed to be long term allies, and made efforts to build a good relationship with President Trump, who prior to his election had been talking tough about beating up Japan on trade. Abe got Trump on side, and rightfully so.

But Abenomics and Abenomasks were big disappointments domestically. The former could have been so much more, and the latter showed that Abe had an unhealthy tendency towards central planning despite its historical failures.

It's funny how the LDP and Abe run this country into the ground and the people keep voting for them. Still, thanks for the masks Abe san.

It's funny how the LDP and Abe run this country into the ground and the people keep voting for them. Still, thanks for the masks Abe san.

Roughly speaking. There have been only LDP, DPJ, JCP, SDP(ex Socialist Party) and derivatives of those and small fry.

There's a sort of point of no-return between LDP/DPJ and JCP/SDP, in terms of a sort of economic principle, and of foreign/security policy. If you know how JCP/SDP have been cheating by quietly altering their unrealistic stances on JSDF/national security. JCP/SDP basically and essentially don't talk about it much other than lapping it up with " we are the world" label.

The guy like Ozawa. He has been all over the place. from LDP, made or join a new party and broke and split them and join another , now ended up in CDPJ. SDP lost a lot of members to CDPJ now ended up as a mere Mizuho Party.

Heck, you know a part of reasons why people lost interest in voting or keep voting LDP.

Abe left Japan largely where he found it: as in effect a cheap labor economy with 40 percent of the workforce on short-term and nonregular contracts, declining marriage and birth rates, and chronically depressed household demand.

Where he found it? More like much worse than he found it, at least from the perspective of the working class, who are to this day being ruined by a devalued yen and higher consumer prices. But all he and his LDP cronies cared about was filling their pockets.

Because, for all that people brand Abe a nationalist, he was an aggressive globalist.

No surprise that other globalists are eulogizing him.

Thanks, Abe-san, for all your effort. Otsukaresamadeshita!

You know Kiyomi Tsujimoto? Ex-SDP moved to CDPJ despite a groove between two parties' political directions, now behaving like a face of CDPJ. She lost as a candidate in lower house election and has just came back as a proportional representative in upper house. And she was a convicted criminal

Because people tend to think the grass is always greener on the other side.

He wasn’t highly praised everywhere abroad.

At least back home in western Europe and within the EU he was notorious to be a rightist and hawkish politician.

I guess in other countries if he had some sympathy was due of the lacking of knowledge of how little he achieved in domestic politics and how he made life of Japanese and expats harder.

Unless some Charisma shows up in opposition, nothing will change. Hence all oppositions should become one party. except Ishin-party which may chose to join LDP in such case. Make it as simple as US for example as a starter. No more lip-service but just say things even if those are big jump across the river

We will remember him with that compassionate smile that tells so much to ordinary people like me. He certainly knew far more than he can verbalise, he was a wiseman.

Abe will be remembered for putting US needs above Japan’s domestic needs. That’s where the anger stems from. For such a nationalistic figure, he bent over backwards to the US.

I am sure the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party leaders also like Shinzo Ave. He has achievement of improving Sino Japanese relationship in his last two years in office.

Abe left Japan largely where he found it

That's absolutel BS !

No need to elaborate

He bent over backwards to the US

Then bent over forwards for China

Then bent over forward for the US

Wash and repeat

I am not sure what has Abe has achieved or what kind of achievement was "Abenomics" has done good to Japan.

I saw more Japanese young people were living in hardships. Abe has helped the rich people in Japan but the middle class or grassroots has nothing benefited from his legacy.

Abe has helped the rich people in Japan

How do? What numbers exist to indicate that?

At least as a somewhat rich person, to me Abe produced just a continuation of tried and failed Keynesian stimulus spending packages, which doesn’t really help anyone, even the recipients of the easy money in the end. It just prolonged the economic malaise for us all.

It’s not like we rich people doubled our wealth thanks to Abe, so far as I can tell.

So please tell how rich people benefited from Abe policies?

He looks like normal and mild when comparing him with overseas right-wing politicians who repeat radical and violent remarks.

But his believers are full of discrimination or militarism or authoritarianism.

Praised abroad? Really? Only after being shot dead, before that he was better known as the Japanese guy on the Mario suit at the Olympics.

But his believers are full of discrimination or militarism or authoritarianism.

Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, but perception gap is wide enough

He was able to rile up China, and anyone who does that is well liked in my country.

It's much easier to get respect and admiration from foreign countries than it is in your homeland. That's because these foreigners don't live in those nations under their administrations or governments. Reagan gets admiration for helping end the Cold War in some countries, but he got some guff here in the USA. That's how it is for many political leaders. On the other hand, there's also some heads of state who don't get much praise from abroad and they don't deserve it - from anybody.