Four years have passed since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wrested power back for his Liberal Democratic Party in the Dec. 16, 2012, election. This period has seen an entirely different political landscape from the revolving-door leadership of the preceding years. Abe's administration has steadily solidified its grip on power through successive national election wins — to the point where he is unchallenged within the LDP and his ruling coalition with Komeito dominates the Diet. He has used the coalition's Diet majority to ram through his legislative agenda that sharply divided popular opinion, including the security legislation enacted last year. However, his initial pledge to prioritize reviving the economy and end its deflationary woes has had mixed results. Abe should refocus his policy priorities as he enters his fifth year in office.
In early December, Abe became the fourth-longest serving prime minister in postwar Japan. Combined with the earlier short-lived stint from 2006-2007, his tenure exceeded that of Yasuhiro Nakasone (1982-1987). In May, he looks set to surpass Junichiro Koizumi (2001-2006). If the proposed change to the LDP rules is formalized, he will be able to run for another three-year term as the party's president in 2018, which would possibly keep him in office through 2021, making him the longest-serving leader in modern Japanese history. Abe's iron grip on power seems so tight today that such a scenario for the years ahead seems plausible.
That marks a sharp contrast with the years before his return to power, when Japan had six prime ministers in six years (including three Democratic Party of Japan leaders during the party's 2009-2012 reign) who quit because of election losses, a stalemate over the divided Diet and opposition from within their own party.