Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan resigned today due to health reasons. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, Abe now holds the record for longest serving prime minister of Japan, just shy of eight years in office, having taken office in 2012.
As for his succesor, to quote the New York Times:
> The leading candidates to replace Mr. Abe include Taro Aso, the long-serving deputy prime minister and a former prime minister; Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary to Mr. Abe; Shigeru Ishiba, a former defense minister who once ran against Mr. Abe for party leader; and Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister. > > Mr. Abe declined to name a favorite, saying they were all βvery promising.β
What are the immediate effects on Japan moving forward? Will Abe's succesor be able to continue with his policies moving forward? What issues in the immediate term and the long term might they face?
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 35%. (I'm a bot)
> WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga asked U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. on Saturday to provide additional supplies of COVID-19 vaccine to Japan, Japanese officials said.
> Suga made the request during telephone talks with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on the last day of his three-day visit to Washington for a White House meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.
> The talks came as Japan trails far behind Britain, the United States and elsewhere in providing vaccinations to people.
> Japan relies solely on imported coronavirus vaccines, and Pfizer's vaccine is the only one the country has approved so far.
> During the summit meeting on Friday, Suga and Biden agreed to work together to help ensure fair access to coronavirus vaccines for developing countries and facilitate the production of safe, effective, and affordable vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region, including by expanding their manufacturing capacity in India.
> Japan only began inoculating about 36 million people aged 65 or older, about 29 percent of its population, on Monday after beginning its campaign with health care workers on Feb. 17.
Summary Source | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: vaccine^#1 Japan^#2 Pfizer^#3 health^#4 Suga^#5
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The Shinzo Abe Lincoln Bedroom.
When British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Japan for a Group of Seven meeting in Tokyo in the 1980s she was offered protection by 20 female karate experts. British officials lobbied successfully against the move because they worried about the negative publicity generated by the βkarate ladiesβ and they wanted Thatcher to be treated the same as the other world leaders attending the meetings.
