Abe elected prime minister by 328 votes to 57 for DPJ's Kaieda

@axle14 Do you think any country, or the majority of Japanese people, are capable of respecting Abe? Is a platform of cronyism and militarism a good way to get respect?

It will start again in 10month or so when he will be called to step down...blablabla

@Yubaru If Japan does not want friends then too bad. I for one think Japan still is one of the great countries and before a peaceful first-rate democracy sinks from corporate corruption I think we should exercise the few free speech rights that we have.

As zichi pointed out, Abe is going to appoint the young Ishihara to head an organization he knows nothing about? Japanese people are going to respect this? Really?

Watching today's voting for a prime minister on TV, I was not surprised to see former prime minister Aso totally confused as to where he should put his ballot (it goes in the ballot box, stupid). If this guy can't even cast a vote properly, how in the heck can we trust him to handle the country's monetary affairs adequately?

And in the above article, Abe was quoted as saying: “I want to learn from the experience of my previous administration, including the setbacks, and aim for a stable government.” Well, so far, it seems that he hasn't learned much. His cabinet includes a bunch of faces from his previous administration ... and they were among the "setbacks" that led to his early departure with a shoddy belly. I've already had Japanese tell me that Abe has gone back on his word since the election and they are shaking their head in wonderment concerning the suddenly failed promises that he made.

And prior to the election Abe promised us he would do things differently this time around. So far nothing is really different ...

The grandson of a former prime minister, Abe has staged a stunning comeback five years after abruptly resigning as premier in the wake of a one-year term troubled partly by scandals in his cabinet and public outrage over lost pension records.

The only thing stunning in all this is the UTTER DEARTH of leadership on these isles, dismal would be nice compared to the reality facing Jpn today!

Somebody in Japan respects Abe. Look who was elected by the people.

Abe was not elected by the "people", he was elected as a representative of one little corner of Yamaguchi. Big difference. His party elected him leader, (again) because, for the most part, of the political infighting behind the scenes and because there is really nobody else they could turn to at this time.

Abe is just as much a puppet of the people behind the scenes as any other PM here typically is as well.

The only way to make the PM accountable to the people and not the party is by having a general election, which I believe would be one HUGE step in the right direction of political reform in Japan.

Time to concrete the banks of the few remaining natural rivers and mountain sides in the country. Japan will rule the world economy once again. Banzai!! Banzai!! Banzai!!

Who was appointed justice minister? I'm waiting for somebody to answer with 'Hatoyama Kunio', just to complete the nightmare.

You are right, Ishihara is a master writer, I own his books and wish his fictional views of the world stay between the thin covers of his books, and not infect impressionable rural simpletons like Abe.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/26/profiles-key-members-newly-elected-japanese-pm-abe-cabinet/

That is a link to the profiles of the key members of Abe's cabinet (English)

328 to 57... hmmm....

One can only hope for Abe to prove everyone here wrong. Given LDP's victory did not come from utter popularity there will be no honeymoon period and he will need to start delivering from day 1. The upper house election of next year should also pressure a prompt execution of whatever that needs to be done. Confrontation with all the negative views and criticism is probably a good place for him to start.

Somebody in Japan respects Abe. Look who was elected by the people. There must be a message in the results of the election. It is time for several changes to be made in the constitution starting with national security. On the long term point of view, Japan cannot follow the Italian model of electing a new prime minister every 9 months.

Japan even recycles their politicians. It's deja vu all over again.

328 to 57... hmmm....

There is no hmmmm....about it, the vote went along party lines, with Komeito voting along with Komeito. Nothin surprising here.

As zichi pointed out, Abe is going to appoint the young Ishihara to head an organization he knows nothing about? Japanese people are going to respect this? Really?

Yes they will, and to understand Japanese politics people get put into posts all the time that they know nothing about. That's why the bureaucracy here is as it is. The minister in charge is pretty much just a talking figure head and the people behind the scenes are the ones really doing all the work.

BTW Ishihara isn't all that young either.

Japan even recycles their politicians. It's deja vu all over again.

Think so? In reality no they don't, not as PM, this is only the 2nd time in post-war Japan that a previous PM has been installed as PM a 2nd time.

In reality it is quite rare.

Noriyosan, you do know that Japanese DONT directly vote for their PM's..................as Yubaru pointed out, only for local politicians & their party.

Congratulations to the new Prime Minster and i expect things will get better fast with Abe at the helm. He is a good man and a fine leader with principles and courage. Just what Japan needs now. Good luck and Happy New Year!

Crisger................you must be new to these isles or being very sarcastic!

Yubaru,

In most normalm countries once someone has had their kick at the can at the highest level they GO AWAY!

But in Japan they hang around causing endless grief.

If they just went away & came out for humanitarian or similar situations it'd be much better, but the likes of abe, mori, aso, hato-chan, etc etc etc hanging around AINT helping any, in fact just the opposite

Abe is appointing the elder Ishihara son as minister of environment. Not the youngest one.

As far as Japanese people's trust in that appointment...there are 30 so million people in the Tokyo metro area who warmely remember and credit his father as the sole person responsible for making Tokyo largely smog free in the 70s and 80s, even though he was just a "writer".

Congratulations to the new Prime Minster and i expect things will get better fast with Abe at the helm. He is a good man and a fine leader with principles and courage. Just what Japan needs now. Good luck and Happy New Year!

The naive pacifist profile of Japan for more than half a century is an obsolete mentality now. Nobody wants War, for nobody wins in it., however nobody wants to be in the backseat forever and wanting to be in the same footing as anybody else is just a fair quest. I guess some countries have just pushed their luck too hard, they have created a reversed mentality for the general public of Japan. PROSPERITY and PEACE, is what should be fostered, but RESPECT comes first in order to cultivate the goodness towards it.

Do you think any country, or the majority of Japanese people, are capable of respecting Abe? Is a platform of cronyism and militarism a good way to get respect?

Japanese people yes....foreign people? Probably not.

Cronyism is just another way of saying "experienced" in the case of Abe's cabinet choices.