Finally confirming what has been widely expected for months, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe stated publicly Saturday that he will run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election in September.
"I will do my best with a firm ambition," Abe said in a speech to a gathering sponsored by supporters in his home district in Shimonoseki.
"Samurai should have ambition," Abe said, referring to remarks by Edo Period scholar Yoshida Shoin (1830-1859), whom he admires.