Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered his inaugural policy speech Monday to kick off the 150-day Diet session, focusing on how he will "revitalize" the economy but omitting his contentious, right-leaning diplomatic and historical rhetoric.
Abe emphasized his determination to overcome the country's decades-old economic slump, reconstruct the disaster-hit Tohoku region, strengthen Japan's security alliance with the United States and enhance diplomatic ties with Southeast Asia.
"The biggest and most urgent agenda item for our country is revitalization of the economy," Abe said in the speech.