Prime Minister Abe Shinzō’s Russian Policy

Abstract

Prime Minister Abe Shinzō inherited Russian policy from his father, Abe Shintarō, former Foreign Minister who endeavored to improve substantially Japan-Russia relations with Gorbachev. Consequently when Abe was reelected as Prime Minister in December 2012, Russian policy was one of his highest policy objectives.

This analysis follows chronologically how his policy developed during the eight years of Prime Minister-ship until September 2020 when he retired. It gives overall perspectives on how he enlarged the scope of relationship from economic, cultural, security, ultimately tackling the most difficult issue of peace treaty negotiations. In November 2018 at his meeting with Putin in Singapore he proposed to resolve the territorial issue based on the 1956 Joint Declaration and for a while the negotiations proceeded well. But soon after, the two sides came apart in furthering closer ties.

Two years after his retirement Abe was tragically assassinated. But in these two years, Abe left a testimony over his policy he covered as Prime Minister, to groups of journalists. Hokkaido Shimbun, which followed most meticulously Abe’s Russian policy published already a ground breaking book while he was still alive, including an important interview Abe made in December 2021.

But another group of journalists primarily of Yomiuri Shimbun made a long interview on Abe’s overall policy agendas, Russian policy being one of the focal points, narrated surely without any anticipation of his tragic ending. Yomiuri Journalists published in 2023 all Abe’s account, which Abe surely expected to be published in much later stage. This paper’s analysis is primarily based on those so far little-known Yomiuri narrative.

 The author concludes that what remains as most impressive is Abe’s conviction that drastically improving relations with Russia is in Japan’s national interest and his tireless energy to have pursued his wide and deep scope of Japan’s relations with Russia including the most difficult issue of a peace treaty conclusion.