December 29, 2022
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the “Person of the Century”
Jason Morgan
Associate Professor, Reitaku University
Time magazine selected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and “the spirit of Ukraine” as its 2022 Person of the Year.
Each year, the magazine selects the person, event, movement, or other subject it considers the most important and prominent of that year and places it on its cover.
Zelensky was a natural choice as a symbol of this year, but if I were to choose not the “Person of the Year,” but the “Person of the Century,” I would select former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe without hesitation.
The Difference Between Responding to War and Preparing for It
The tragic news that Abe was struck down by an assassin’s bullet in Nara in July unfortunately became the biggest news story in Japan.
The world mourned his death.
But I do not believe that Abe can be understood by considering the events of that single day or even just a single year.
Unless we consider him on the scale of one hundred years—a full century—we cannot see his true significance.
He was the most important person of the twenty-first century, and I would like to nominate him as the “Person of the Century.”
A major reason is that his significance lay not in responding to a war that had already begun, but in preparing for a future war that had not yet broken out.
President Zelensky attempted to defend his country against the Russian invasion.
Confronting a war unfolding before his eyes and leading the fight are the actions of a hero.
A hero is someone who shines upon the stage of history.
However highly we may praise him as a man of courage, the stage of history upon which he stood was already there.
Abe, by contrast, sought to awaken a nation so complacent about peace that its people would not even believe war was coming.
Even when branded a “fascist,” a “militarist,” and a “historical revisionist,” he remained determined to fulfil the great cause of strengthening and defending his country.
Abe was a geopolitical visionary, and his talent for strategy must be recognized.
Deciphering the complex movements of the world and making every possible preparation for a future crisis is the very essence of a statesman—a great national leader.
Removing the Danger of the “Peace Constitution”
Abe sought to break the spell of the postwar era and bring the postwar regime to an end.
He not only shone upon the stage of history but also transformed that stage itself.
In that sense, I believe he was a man who appears only once in a hundred years.
One of the great “stage sets” of history that Abe attempted to change was the Constitution of Japan, commonly called the “Peace Constitution.”
In reality, the “Peace Constitution” is the most dangerous document in the world.
Japan faces a China that is growing stronger by the day, a North Korea accelerating its missile launches and nuclear weapons development, a South Korea chronically afflicted by anti-Japanese sentiment and illegally occupying Japanese territory, and a Russia that is presently invading another country while illegally occupying Japanese territory.
Yet under the control of the “Peace Constitution,” Japan has been left defenseless.
It is the equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull.
Japan’s “Peace Constitution” could invite invasion or a major war, placing not only the Japanese people but also the people of East Asia and the entire world in danger.
It is playing with fire.
I believe Abe understood this danger very well.
In 1945, Japan was defeated in the Second World War.
Entrusting the irreplaceable lives of the Japanese people living in 2022 to a constitution imposed upon Japan under the occupation of GHQ—the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers—is also a matter involving Japan’s national pride.
I believe Abe understood that very well too.
Abe’s Vision Must Be Realized
That is why Abe called for defense spending to be increased to two percent of gross domestic product.
He called for an end to “strategic ambiguity” and declared unequivocally that “a Taiwan contingency is a Japanese contingency.”
He championed the strategy of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, including cooperation among Japan, the United States, Australia, and India through the Quad, seeking to encircle and contain China in its totalitarian drive.
He sought to revise the Constitution, the spell of the postwar era, so that those who risk their lives to defend the country could be called a “military.”
While lavishing praise upon the United States, he also sought gradually to overcome the negative postwar legacy of dependence upon American military power.
The work he undertook could never be evaluated on the basis of a single year.
Abe devoted all his strength to preventing war so that Okinawa would not become the next Kherson and Tokyo would not become tomorrow’s Kyiv.
The vision of Abe, who fought desperately and died in the service of this cause, looked far into Japan’s future.
Shinzo Abe was indeed the “Person of the Century.”
Can Japan become completely independent, break free from its postwar struggles, and stand tall with pride?
Abe’s vision of a Japan whose territory would never be occupied by a foreign power remains unfinished.
The time has come to decide whether it will be realized in the single year of 2023 or whether Japan must wait for the next “Person of the Century.”
From beyond the grave, Abe is surely calling out with all his might: “Do not wait—hurry.”

【正論】「１００年の人」安倍晋三元首相　麗澤大学准教授　ジェイソン・モーガン – 産経ニュース