Politics of Japan

Support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe?s cabinet has fallen to the lowest level since he took office in 2012, to just over 40 percent, with nearly two-thirds of voters opposed to his muscular defense policy that would end a self-imposed ban on the military fighting overseas, a weekend media survey showed.

Japan?s Cabinet endorsed a set of defense bills on May 14 that would allow the country?s military to go beyond its self-defense stance and play a greater role internationally, a plan that has split public opinion.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will send a clear message to the United States when he visits Washington next week: Japan is ready to take more responsibility for security on the world stage. 

Behind that message, the conservative leader will want fresh assurances that America will show up if needed in any clash with China, conversations with politicians and experts show. 

Japan's leader Shinzo Abe risked Chinese and Korean ire April 21 by sending an offering to a controversial war shrine, and saying he may not repeat a formal apology for the country's World War II rampage.

Shinzo Abe is expected to become the first Japanese prime minister in history to address a joint session of the US Congress, crowning an April visit focused on deepening trade and military ties.
      
Abe hopes to make the speech during a trip to the United States at the end of next month, around Japan's "Golden Week" holiday, diplomatic and legislative sources told AFP.

Japan and France signed an arms transfer agreement on March 13, paving the way for developing drones and other unmanned equipment together as Japan seeks to play a greater military role internationally.
     

German Chancellor Angela Merkel waded into the fraught area of wartime forgiveness during a visit to Japan on Monday, saying that "facing history squarely" and "generous gestures" are necessary to mend ties.
      

Japan on Feb. 17 announced $15.5 million to fight "terrorism" in the Middle East and Africa, as Tokyo tries to demonstrate its resolve despite the murder of two citizens by Islamist extremists.
      
The amount doubles the $7.5 million in assistance that Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida pledged during a visit to Brussels in January.
      

Japan's parliament on Dec. 24 re-elected Shinzo Abe as prime minister with an overwhelming majority following the conservative leader's mid-December election triumph.

The powerful lower house voted for the 60-year-old Abe with 328 votes against 73 for acting opposition leader Katsuya Okada.        

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Dec. 15 vowed he would try to persuade a sceptical public of the need to revise Japan's pacifist constitution, the day after scoring a thumping election victory.
      
The premier, who was re-elected by a landslide in Sunday's polls, pledged to pursue his nationalist agenda while promising to follow through on much-needed economic reforms.