Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Monday to stay focused on efforts to revive Japan's moribund economy and to not aggressively pursue his goal of amending the pacifist Constitution, even though his Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito bloc now controls the Diet.
Speaking to reporters a day after the LDP and New Komeito secured an Upper House majority in Sunday's election, Abe said, "Throughout the election campaign, I repeated that beating deflation is the foremost priority for Japan, and the voters endorsed that goal.
"It is not easy to steer Japan out of 15 years of deflation, but we will not have a sound welfare system, national security or diplomacy, unless we have a strong economy."