Drawing from Yoshiko Sakurai’s essay “The Mission Remaining for Shinzo Abe,” this article examines Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s resignation, his struggle with ulcerative colitis, his diplomatic and security achievements, and the Kantei press corps’ failure to ask about the U.S.–China confrontation or the threats posed by China and North Korea.

September 7, 2020
The world has now entered an extraordinary phase of confrontation between the two great powers, the United States and China.
China’s military expansion, North Korea’s missile development, and the rapid transformation of the international order are matters that directly affect Japan’s security and future.
Nevertheless, at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s press conference announcing his resignation, not a single Kantei reporter asked about U.S.–China relations, the threat posed by China, or North Korea’s missile program.
Should it not be a vital responsibility of reporters covering the Prime Minister’s Office to ask not only about the presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party and domestic political maneuvering, but also how Japan is to survive in the world?
The following is taken from an essay by Yoshiko Sakurai titled “The Mission Remaining for Shinzo Abe,” published in this week’s issue of Shukan Shincho.
On Friday, August 28, I attended a study meeting at the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals, a think tank, from early in the morning and returned to my office shortly after 1:00 p.m.
As I began preparing for that evening’s Genron TV program, an email suddenly arrived.
It said, “Prime Minister Abe will shortly announce his resignation.”
The thoughts, “Ah, at last,” and “So it has come to this after all,” welled up in me simultaneously.
There was, however, no time to lose myself in emotion.
Emails and telephone calls began flying back and forth.
We immediately decided to replace the scheduled Genron TV program.
That evening, we had been planning to report on the turmoil within the Moon Jae-in administration, but we changed it to a special program on Prime Minister Abe’s resignation.
While gathering information, I contacted Takashi Arimoto and Fumito Ishibashi, both former political editors of the Sankei Shimbun, and asked them to appear on the program.
According to the subsequently released schedule, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left the Prime Minister’s Office at 1:57 p.m. and headed for the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters.
Until then, he had been attending a meeting of the headquarters dealing with the Wuhan virus, and his visit to the LDP headquarters was a sudden move.
When the prime minister headed for the LDP headquarters, however, political veterans in Nagatacho immediately prepared themselves for the news that his resignation had been decided.
It was at this point that I received the email.
With various thoughts swirling in my mind, I began a meeting with Nobumitsu Ando, the producer of Genron TV.
The prime minister’s resignation was truly regrettable for many people.
In every respect, it represented a major loss to Japan’s national interests.
There were a great many things that could have been accomplished only because Shinzo Abe was prime minister.
There were, however, still tasks that remained unfinished.
What would happen to Japanese politics without Prime Minister Abe?
What would happen to the Japan–U.S. relationship, on which Japan’s fate depends?
Would Japan be able to confront China, which was watching for every opportunity to target it?
Just as I was arranging these thoughts in my mind, my mobile telephone rang.
It was Prime Minister Abe.
The prime minister spoke briefly.
“I am sorry, after you were kind enough to be concerned about me. The new medicine worked, but I was told that I would need regular treatment. If I wait until the very last moment, it will be like it was 13 years ago. Rather than resigning midway without preparation, I have drawn the line myself. I have decided to resign.”
It was a brief conversation confined to the essential points.
When I checked the time, it was 2:52 p.m., just before the extraordinary meeting of LDP executives scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
At the moment I heard the words “the prime minister’s resignation,” one half of me could scarcely believe them.
Would it sound like reasoning invented after the event if I said that the other half of me had anticipated it?
Let us look back briefly at the circumstances.
During a regular medical examination in June, the prime minister had been told that there were signs of a recurrence.
From around the middle of July, he began experiencing changes in his physical condition and entered a state in which his strength was being severely depleted.
He explained this at the press conference announcing his resignation.
His subsequent examination and treatment at Keio University Hospital on August 17 lasted seven and a half hours.
At the press conference, the prime minister said that it was then that “a recurrence of ulcerative colitis was confirmed.”
Some time after his sudden resignation 13 years earlier, the prime minister himself described the severity of this illness in the February 2008 issue of Bungeishunju.
He said that the disease first developed when he was a 17-year-old high school student.
His own immune system attacked the walls of his intestines, causing the intestinal lining to peel away, ulcerate, and become inflamed.
He suffered severe abdominal pain and extensive intestinal bleeding.
Even during the night, the bleeding continued at intervals of approximately 30 minutes, making sound sleep impossible.
These agonizing symptoms were finally brought under control by a new medicine.
Nevertheless, the government-designated intractable disease that had been controlled for many years returned.
The prime minister revealed that this recurrence had been confirmed during the examination on August 17.
On the following day, Abe’s office canceled a large meeting with which I was also involved.
I was told that the prime minister understood better than anyone that this was not an illness that could be cured simply by resting for a week.
Although the new medication had been effective, continuing treatment would be necessary, and there was no guarantee that his condition would improve.
The situation allowed no optimism.
I did not want to believe it, but in a sense, I prepared myself at that moment.
The explanation given then corresponded exactly with the contents of the prime minister’s brief telephone call on August 28.
There can be no doubt that the prime minister decided on August 17 to resign.
Unexpected Courage
On August 28, when the prime minister’s resignation was made public, I found myself returning to the same thoughts.
Above all, I wanted the prime minister to take care of his health, rest fully, and recover.
Yet I was worried about Japan’s future.
Prime Minister Abe had strategically supplemented the relatively declining influence of the United States by involving Australia and India.
He also demonstrated strong leadership in bringing together the Japan–EU Economic Partnership Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
What would happen to Japan and the world after Prime Minister Abe?
The future was difficult to foresee.
As I worked with such thoughts in mind, the press conference began at 5:00 p.m.
The prime minister’s press conference announcing his resignation was profoundly impressive.
In his opening statement, he twice expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the people and sincerely apologized for resigning.
He answered questions with great humility and courtesy until the very end.
The prime minister was not only humble, but also calm and patient.
There stood a man who set aside his own interests and worked for the nation and its people.
Humility, composure, and patience are qualities at the heart of the spirit of Bushido.
When these qualities are united, unexpected courage wells up within a human being.
A person is granted strength beyond his own powers.
In this press conference, I perceived the sincerity of a prime minister who had reached a state of selflessness.
Although he had accomplished much, his frustration at resigning before completing his mission came across together with his pure desire for the peace and well-being of the Japanese people and nation.
Yet as I watched the press conference, there was something I could not accept.
It was the conduct of the Kantei reporters, which stood in sharp contrast to that of the prime minister, who had done his utmost while controlling an intractable illness.
Their questions revealed the nature of their awareness of the issues.
A reporter’s pride and ability are both made evident by the questions he asks.
They scarcely acknowledged the prime minister’s efforts or achievements.
If individual reporters understood the significance of what the prime minister had accomplished and still chose not to recognize it, that would be their prerogative.
Yet I cannot help feeling that their questions at the press conference arose not from a genuine understanding of Prime Minister Abe’s achievements, but simply from insufficient study or a narrow field of vision.
The Day He Will Be Needed
The world has now entered an extraordinary phase of confrontation between the two great powers, the United States and China.
Nevertheless, why did not a single reporter ask about U.S.–China relations, North Korea’s missile program, or the threat posed by China?
Why was there no question about Japan’s preparations for an international situation said to be the most severe in a century?
It was only natural to wonder whether the Kantei Press Club, positioned at the very center of Japan’s government, was fulfilling the role of journalism.
The reporters asked many questions about the minute details of the LDP presidential election.
Detailed information about political maneuvering is also important.
It is, however, strange by any measure that they did not ask about the diplomacy conducted by Prime Minister Abe from a panoramic global perspective or about the security environment changing from moment to moment.
If they belong to the Kantei Press Club, they should demonstrate greater pride and intelligence.
They should show that they possess the ability to ask about Japan’s direction from a broad perspective and to debate the national strategy advanced by the prime minister.
Moreover, reporters working at the center of the Japanese state should display consideration and courtesy befitting Japanese people.
Near the end of the press conference, a reporter named Shimokubo of the Chugoku Shimbun offered the words, “Prime Minister, thank you for your hard work.”
That was at least some consolation.
Yet no reporter from any of the other media organizations offered words of gratitude or appreciation to a prime minister who had exhausted himself physically and mentally while serving until his administration became the longest in Japanese history.
Even before their responsibilities as reporters are considered, this reflects a lack of ordinary human and social decency.
While being subjected to their sometimes unreasonable criticism and to questions that concentrated on the trees without seeing the forest, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe worked with tremendous energy for seven years and eight months.
Of course, not every part of the prime minister’s record can be given a perfect score of 100.
Even so, for nearly eight years, the prime minister truly worked extremely hard for Japan and its people.
As one citizen, I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to him.
And I feel this:
In a turbulent international community, the day will surely come again when Prime Minister Abe’s perspective and ability will be needed as a guide not only for Japan but also for the world.
Even after stepping down as prime minister, he will remain a valuable Japanese statesman whose contribution is sought by the world.
The preceding passage is taken from Yoshiko Sakurai’s essay.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s resignation press conference was not merely an occasion for announcing the departure of one political leader.
At a time when the U.S.–China confrontation was intensifying and the threats posed by China and North Korea were increasing, it should have been an important opportunity to ask which course Japan would follow.
The failure of the Kantei press corps to ask questions from this broader perspective exposed the narrow outlook and lack of strategic awareness afflicting Japanese journalism.
The authoritative and definitive version of this article is published on the official website.