Shinzo abe was a good player on the worlds stage, from your point of view, i think so. He knew how to play the game, as it were. But he did stumble, as you mention, in relations with south carea and also, largely with china and korea. Part of it has to do with territorial disputes, but also disputes over their shared history. The situation got very grave with south korea. I think the united states put pressure on both governments to try to get overthe shared past,. To cut a deal on the comfort women in 20 15. That deal was dead on arrival. It didn't get any traction at all in south kare
Japan's recently assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe was a leader who leaves behind a complex legacy. Internationally, he strengthened Japan's relationship with the US in ways unseen before. Closer to home, crucial good relations with South Korea dissipated. His attitude towards Japan's difficult history was sometimes praised as a readiness for neutrality, while others criticised this as denialist revisionism. In the weeks since Abe's death, Japanese citizens have also begun to grapple with the reality of how involved their political system has become with influential religious groups, too. To help unpack some of these issues and discuss how Japan will move forward, we're joined by two specialists in modern Japanese history, Satona Suzuki from SOAS, University of London, and Jeff Kingston from Temple University, Japan. Our host for this podcast is journalist and broadcaster Philippa Thomas.
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