Hello and welcome to the history of Japan podcast, episode 448, Abe Part 5.

So, first things first, we are interrupting your regularly scheduled programming with all

apologies to Fujiwara No Teika to do a short-noticed episode on the assassination of

Prime Minister Abe Shenzhou just a few weeks ago.

As I've mentioned in recent episodes, I'm always a bit uncomfortable doing breaking news, so to speak,

simply because that's not my specialty at all. But given the fact that we've spent a lot of time

very recently on Abe on this podcast, indeed about 18 months ago, if memory serves, the fact that

the events of the last week are, to put it mildly, a bit unprecedented, and the fact that

so many of you have asked me for this has led me to the inevitable conclusion that I should

do something on the main feed covering these events. Fortunately, there are some interesting historical angles to work through here.

So, again, with apologies and respect to our Heon-era poets to whom we shall return next week,

fortunately they've kept for a few centuries, so I imagine they will manage the weight fine,

we turn to current affairs.

A few quick notes. First, as the title of this episode suggests, I am treating this as a continuation of our four-part series on Abe, which was episodes 361 to 364, and I don't plan

to go back over anything that was there. So just to be aware of that going in.

Second, I'm recording this on July 24th a bit in advance of release.

Things have evolved and will, I am sure, continue to do so.

So just keep that in mind if you're listening from the future.

First, just to make sure we're all on the same page, what happened? Well, let's wind the

clock back to 2020, or on this podcast feed, do episode 364. At the start of 2020, Abe Shinso was the

longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, leader of its largest and certainly most

functional party, the Liberal Democratic Party, which, confusingly for Americans, is the more

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