Nearly a decade after the launch of Abenomics, Japan still cannot do without massive monetary and fiscal stimulus — the two features of the economic booster program pushed by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
A weaker yen, a byproduct of the Bank of Japan's monetary easing and welcomed as beneficial for the export-reliant economy, has reached a point where the current leader, Fumio Kishida, had to say its rapid weakening is one of the "crises" facing the country.
Even after stepping down as the longest-serving prime minister in 2020, Abe remained an advocate of expansionary fiscal policy and the continuation of powerful monetary easing. Holding a state funeral Tuesday for Abe — an influential yet divisive figure who was shot by a lone gunman during a campaign speech in July — remains controversial in Japan.