If things had gone according to plan, Shinzo Abe would have stepped down as Japan’s prime minister next year — still enjoying the afterglow of a successful Tokyo Olympics and with a revived economy as his legacy. Instead, ill health and coronavirus have rewritten the script.
Sadly, a debilitating illness has forced Mr Abe to leave office early. The Olympics have been postponed, and may ultimately be abandoned, because of Covid-19. And the pandemic has also wiped out many of the economic gains of the Abe years.
Despite that, Mr Abe has reason to be proud of his legacy. He has become the longest-serving prime minister in postwar Japanese history. This is more than a personal landmark. Nearly eight years in office have given him the chance to put his stamp on Japan. By centralising power in the prime minister’s office, Mr Abe was able to compel the cautious Japanese bureaucratic state to experiment with radical new economic policies. After decades of near-stagnation, deflation and ever-rising debt, there was a clear need to try something new.