Word: yasukuni
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...during his first few months in office, Abe confounded critics by appearing to curb some of his earlier conservative inclinations. He moved to repair relations with China and South Korea, which had been damaged by his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine where Japan's World War II military leaders are commemorated. Abe quickly earned a reputation as a pragmatist smart enough to prevent ideology from getting in the way of good foreign policy...
...Japan hasn't convinced China to forgive, either. Tokyo's repeated apologies for its militaristic past have never been remorseful enough for many Chinese. And Japan's former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi further fanned the flames by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead-among them several class-A war criminals executed after the Tokyo trials, including the general in charge at Nanjing...
...critics were most afraid he would mishandle: foreign affairs. Abe has quickly managed to rebuild Japan's fractured relationships with South Korea and China, traveling to both capitals for lightning summits less than two weeks after he took power. While Koizumi continually irritated his neighbors by visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, Abe tactfully sidestepped the issue by refusing to say what he intends to do about Yasukuni. "He's shown real success in dealing with this," says Koichi Kato, an LDP heavyweight who has been critical in the past of Abe's nationalist leanings...
...most inspired political acts of 2006 occurred on Oct. 8, when newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stepped off a plane in Beijing. Relations between China and Japan were at their lowest ebb in decades, largely because Abe's predecessor Junichiro Koizumi had repeatedly visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals. Abe's momentous trip to China broke a political stalemate between Asia's two leading powers and portended closer economic and diplomatic ties between these historical rivals...
...boldness abroad hasn't been matched at home, where doubts over his zeal for reform are wrecking his approval ratings. Conceivably, Abe may try to energize his conservative base by visiting Yasukuni himself-a move that would anger China and South Korea, making it even harder to forge a unified strategy for dealing with North Korea and its nuclear weapons. Will he resist the allure of nationalism? "Abe likes to say: 'There is a strong point that I have,'" says Hiroshige Seko, the cabinet's top spokesperson. "'I tend to be perceived as softer than I am.'" In 2007, Japan...