The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan

by Tobias Harris

Shinzō Abe entered politics burdened by high expectations: that he would change Japan. In 2007, seemingly overwhelmed, he resigned after only a year as prime minister. Yet, following five years of reinvention, he masterfully regained the premiership in 2012, and now dominates Japanese democracy as no leader has done before. Abe has inspired fierce loyalty among his followers, cowing Japan’s left with his ambitious economic programme and support for the security and armed forces. He has staked a leadership role for Japan in a region being rapidly transformed by the rise of China and India, while carefully preserving an ironclad relationship with Trump’s America. The Iconoclast tells the story of Abe’s meteoric rise and stunning fall, his remarkable comeback, and his unlikely emergence as a global statesman laying the groundwork for Japan’s survival in a turbulent century.

Genres: Japan, Biography, Politics, Nonfiction, History, Asia, Japanese History

392 pages, Hardcover

Published August 27, 2020

About the author

Tobias Harris is a Japanese politics analyst at Teneo Intelligence, the political risk arm of the strategic consultancy Teneo. His first book - THE ICONOCLAST: SHINZŌ ABE AND THE NEW JAPAN - will be published in 2020.

Prior to joining Teneo, Mr. Harris was an independent analyst of Japanese politics and creator of the blog Observing Japan. In this capacity, he provided running commentary on the Japanese political situation and its effect on foreign and economic policy. He has written articles on Japanese politics for publications including the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and the Far Eastern Economic Review and provided on-air analysis for CNBC, Bloomberg, NHK, and BBC. From 2014-2020, he was Economy, Trade, and Business Fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA.

Before working as an analyst, in 2006-2007 Mr. Harris worked on the staff of Keiichiro Asao, at that time a member of the upper house of the Japanese Diet and shadow foreign minister for the Democratic Party of Japan, for whom Mr. Harris conducted research on foreign policy and Japan’s relations with the United States.

Mr. Harris holds an M.Phil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. He received his bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University. He conducted graduate research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and, from 2011-2012, he was a Fulbright scholar at the Institute for Social Science at the University of Tokyo.

Reviews

[Hadrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first biography of Shinzo Abe in English, published shortly before his retirement due to illness in September 2020.

For a general reader (myself), the book provides accessible coverage of Abe's own familial history and ties to Japanese politics, his start and political ascent, and the directions of his own terms as well as his political "style", with a speculation on the possible legacy of his tenure as the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history.

Harris starts with a discussion of Abe's extended family and the early years of post-war Japanese democracy - Abe's great-uncle, Eisaku Satō, was prime minister, as was his maternal grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi. The rest of the book continues in a roughly chronological order, from his selection as a member of the Diet in 1993, then through various party and leadership figures, and then his first abortive tenure as Prime Minister from 2006-2007, before a comeback. The book then concludes with chapters on his policies, governance style, and potential legacy, covering the period from 2012-2020.

The term "iconoclast" comes from Harris' characterization of Abe not only as a conservative, but also a nationalist who had intended to break institutional inertia and also taboos in Japanese society. The term "Abenomics", applied to his government's three policies of fiscal stimulus, quantitative easing, and structural reform, were designed to jolt the Japanese economy out of long periods of sluggish growth and consistent risks of deflation. Harris considers them mixed successes: the later years of his tenure saw increased economic growth and stable rates of inflation, but limited results in terms of, say, agricultural reform or improving the status of women into the workplace.

Additionally, Harris also surveys the complicated results of Abe's foreign policy - Abe may be characterized as a nationalist, but not an isolationist. His vision of a "beautiful country" saw Japan as being more engaged with the result of the world, and forming stronger relationships with Australia, Taiwan, India. In public statements, however, he refused to engage in a "masochistic" repetition of apologies for war crimes in the second world war.

His own negation of these atrocities and toleration of the further right in domestic politics failed to win him friends in South Korea and China - a trade war broke out between Japan and South Korea in the tail end of his administration. He ushered in the acceptance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the United States withdrew during the Trump administration. Abe also oversaw a failed attempt to scrap Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, outlawing war as a means to solve international disputes. While a "reinterpretation" was allowed in cases of collective defense in 2014, the formal abolition of the article was not yet resolved. Abe's grandfather, Kishi, had also tried and failed in the same measure.

Harris notes the mixed achievements of Abe's tenure, that major crises "lie ahead", and that there still remain "limitations" of a single head of state against such problems as demographics, foreign policy, and so on. Despite the unusual duration of Abe's time in office, where most prime ministers might last two years at most - he still grappled with problems that even one administration might not have solved.

Speaking as a layman, I found this to be a valuable look at Abe's life and being more informed as to the legacy of his politics. In a 2014 speech, Abe evoked the British Prime Minister Margaret Thathcer in saying "There is no alternative" to his policies of economic reform - to make an extended speculation, if the rest of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the smaller competing parties accept his framing of Japan's place in the world, then maybe he was Thatcherian - converting opponents and friends to one point of view. However, with the sudden scrutiny that his assassination has thrown on the role of the Unification Church and money in politics, one wonders how long the spell may last.

On a final note, Harris also cites an extensive amount of Japanese-language material - if I had one modest criticism, it is that the citations index does not include romanji, which makes looking up the references more difficult.

[Geoffrey Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever people ask for good, scholarly books on Japan, I now recommend two books: Herbert Bix's biography of Emperor Hirohito, and this one, Tobias Harris's The Iconoclast. Author Tobias Harris writes a detailed, erudite biography of Japan's most iconic leader in recent memory -- he's the longest-serving continuous prime minister of Japan -- and dives into a storyline on how Abe set out to reshape Japanese society and politics, how he overcame a series of failures, and the never-ending political maneuvers in this complicated biography. I recommend chapter 11, "The Comeback," for anyone wanting to get the inside story on Abenomics, the period from earlier in the previous decade when Abe's people were trying to reinvigorate Japan with a kind of economic renaissance, after two decades of recession and stagnation.

[Annie Jabs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book definitely reads more like a performance review of Abe’s political feats versus a biography of Abe the man, which is a bit of a shame because it’s very time and place (I read it less than a year after publication and it’s already out of date given Abe’s surprise resignation in late 2020). One of the best parts of a biography is the residual zeitgeist the reader gets to experience about the subject’s society and culture so I wish there had been a bit more focus on the Japanese public/society in relation to Abe versus his various bureaucratic reshuffling. But that research may not have been available- and kudos to Harris for wading through all this research in the first place. Writing is a bit clunky at times but an impressive work nonetheless

[Wolf]

This was a fascinating read, clearly well researched and covering a large chunk of recent history. It didn't read like a textbook, either. For those interested in reading about Abe Shinzo's background and career, the book did its job and made the topic pretty accessible.

My only gripes:
1) It's already outdated, due to being published in 2020. That's not the author's fault, but it is what it is. The afterword is practically useless with a lot of conjecture that isn't relevant anymore since he resigned. (not to mention, the assassination...)
2) Sometimes the chapters seem to sacrifice a logical layout for a dramatic style of prose. I got kind of tired of jumping around halfway through a topic to read a full background of a newly introduced politician's last 30 years... the incessant backtracking and repeated allusions to the same events started to get mentally exhausting.
3) The last few chapters seemed to be grasping to draw some giant conclusion about Abe Shinzo's legacy for the duration of the universe as we know it... well, I hate to say it, but it sounded a lot like a gradeschool kid's attempt at running in circles to avoid giving a concrete conclusion at the end of a vectorless essay. That could've been skipped altogether in my personal opinion.... let the future generations figure out what they'll think of it. But I've also never liked philisophizing, so maybe it's just me.

Besides my gripes, though, it was a truly interesting read and I'm really glad I got the chance to work my way through it! Definitely recommend. (I would just skip the last couple chapters, personally.)

[Luca Andreol]

The Iconoclast

🚀 Il #libro in 3 Frasi

1. “In order to realize ‘a beautiful country, Japan,’ my mission is none other than to draw a new vision of a nation which can withstand the raging waves for the next 50 to 100 years to come.”

2. “This is what it is to be a politician. If you refuse, as a politician, the chance probably won’t come again,”

3. He was willing to tolerate months of frustrating and almost futile debate to satisfy ruling party lawmakers and to give opposition lawmakers ample time to question the bills. But his frustration—and his longstanding impatience with parliamentary deliberations—repeatedly got the better of him.

🎨 Impressioni
Libro molto interessante e ben fatte che svela la vita e la crescita del premier Shinzō Abe
👤 Chi dovrebbe leggerlo?
Chiunque sia interessato all’argomento politica e Giappone
☘️ Come il libro mi ha cambiato?
Il libro mi ha dato una prospettiva diversa sulle difficoltà che sto affrontando come politico. Mi ha fatto capire che con la volontà ed il lavoro si può superare qualsiasi ostacolo.
✍🏻 Le mie tre frasi preferite

1. “Do not be arrogant, but never be subservient. Even if you think your counterpart is older or higher ranked or in the same position, you should treat them equally.”

2. “Surely, politics is made with the head,” writes Weber, “but it is certainly not made with the head alone.”

3. Marx suggested that no leader can choose the conditions he faces, and this was true for Abe in September 2006.

📒 Sommario + Note

1. The Last Heisei Prime Minister 
2. The Birth Of A Dynasty 
3. The World That Made Shinzo
4. The Iconoclast 
5. Champion Of The Abductees 
6. The Weirdo 
7. Abe's Rise 
8. The Successor 
9. Inferno 
10. Abe In The Wilderness 
11. The Comeback 
12. "There Is No Alternative" 
13. Building A New Japan 
14. The Slow Boring Of Hard Boards 
15. Alliance Of Hope 
16. The Gamble 
17. In Search Of A Legacy 
18. A New Japan

#libri

[Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shinzo Abe’s rise to leadership from being the mediocre unmotivated youngest son of a political family to prime minister of Japan for a record breaking 3 terms. His older brother was supposed to follow in his Grandfather and fathers footsteps as a representative in the Japanese Diet and not the younger Abe, who as a child wanted to be a movie producer/ director and had no ambitions for politics. Abe went to university in California to learn to speak English first in San Francisco and then to Southern California before his family summoned him back to Japan. His father got him a job at Kobe Steel’s office in New York City, only because of his political connections, where his coworkers where not thrilled with the thought of babysitting a politician’s son. However Abe soon won them over because of his humble and subdued manner and was frequently invited out to golf outings and karaoke evenings helping prevent homesickness. His father was elected to a position as foreign minister and wanted Shinzo to be his secretary. He felt duty bound to his coworkers and didn’t want to leave them because they were in the middle of a big project with important clients. His father eventually had to talk Shinzos boss into convincing him it would be ok if he left the company and pursued politics if he wanted to. Shinzo relented.

Now as secretary to his father he got to spend a lot more time with him and their bond became much closer as a result. Shinzo was able to sit in on important boardroom discussions and learned a lot in just a few short years about the workings of international politics. Discovering that he very much wanted to pursue a career in line with his father and grandfather.

[Awais · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best and only English-language biography of Shinzo Abe detailing his family's history in Japanese politics and his rise, fall, and rise again in the political arena. Harris does an incredible job detailing the history of Japan's longest-serving and most powerful post-war prime minister. Harris also provides a comprehensive overview of Japanese politics prior to his entrance into Japanese politics through the lives of his grandfather Kishi and father Shintaro.

Harris details how Abe has had incredible success in pushing forward many of his policies. From asserting Japan as a leader on the international scene to preserving relations with a growingly isolationist U.S, and keeping the door for cooperation with China open. Domestic policies implemented by Abe have sought to reverse the long-term trends that look to doom Japan. These policies include his list of economic policies under Abenomics(1.0 and 2.0) and his controversial stance and arguably revisionism of Japanese history, which has enraged regional leaders.

However, despite his success, he was unable to revise the constitution, specifically Article 9 which Harris states:
"The greatest irony of Abe's tenure may be that, despite being the longest-serving and most powerful prime minister of the postwar era, he will leave office having failed to achieve the one change he sought above all others, an ambition that he had absorbed from the time he was handled on his grandfather's knee." (p.314)

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive review of Shinzo Abe and Japanese society during his time in power, perhaps the most impactful Japanese leader in the 21st century. While a series of events since the book's publishing obviously has left it not fully up to date for a reader in 2022, the book does a solid job presenting Abe's background, from his grandfather - a war criminal in Manchuria turned post-war PM and political dynasty founder, to Abe's preparation for his initial period in power, ousting, time in opposition and return as Prime Minister.

In terms of summarising Abe's life, political career and the surrounding history, the book works with a staggering amount of both Japanese and international source material, presenting relevant events chronologically. This does however lead to a somewhat matter-of-fact writing style. In a way, the main critique would be that in a work seeking to summarise the political life and history of a long-standing leader for a foreign audience, further context might be needed to get a complete picture of all the events presented. Yet that would be beyond the scope of this book, and Harris has done a solid job considering the format. His twitter account (@observingjapan) is well worth checking out for shorter, more frequent updates on Japanese politics and society.

[Gabor Seprenyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read about Japanese politics and a comperehensive biography about Abe Shinzo, the legendary prime minister and leader of Japan. The author, Tobias Harris, is one of the best among non-Japanese when it comes to understanding and explaining Japanese politics. The book is well researched and well written, putting Abe's personality, political thinking, his unmatched skills in a very broad family and historical context.
When the book was first released, Abe was still the prime minister, facing, not for the first time, menacing challenges, in 2020 it was Covid and the surrounding hysteria. Since the release of the first edition, Abe was forced to step down and a year later he was murdered. This alone cries for a snew, expanded edition, hopefully already on the way. The book remains an important reference for anyone interested in Japanese politics or history as Abe will remain leading and influencing Japan in after his death, leaving behind an enormous political legacy.
Masterwork.

[Paweł Rusin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's somewhat embarrassing how little I know about Japanese politics despite living here for over 10 years now. This book was on my reading list for a while now and recent tragic events finally made me pick it up. I'm glad I did, since it covers not only the life and political career of Shinzo Abe but also the political climate in which he worked as well as the social conditions constraining him. It covers roughly the last 30 years, starting with the beginning of his career, where most focus is placed on the dominant players at this time (mostly Prime Minister Koizumi) and finishes up with Abe-san’s resignation during the COVID crisis.

Considering my non-existent knowledge about the topic, it was a perfect level of depth. It also gave me a better look inside how different is the Japanese politics compared to other countries and provided me with a lot of future homework, on which I need to study up.

[Pedro Barbosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resilience, confidence and believing in your values are, once again, proven to be crucial personality traits to achieve success in your life.

I wanted to know more about PM Abe because he was shot and unfortunately passed away about a month ago. Although I knew very superficially who he was and the way he governed, I wanted to find out more about the longest serving PM in Japan's history since the beginning of the 20th century.

This was a man profoundly influenced by his grandfather Kishi who was also PM in the post-war era whose values would reflect on Abe's modern policies to create a prospering new Japan.

The book is filled with stories about the internal fights within LDP and with other parties in order to pass legislation and policy making for over 70 years.

Very interesting read for anyone who wants to know the intricasies of japanese politics and Abe's rise from being a potential wonderkid to failed PM to the longest serving leader in Japanese modern history.

[Bookish Tokyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d give this a solid 3.5. Literature on Japanese politics in English is thin on the ground, and what you do find is often academic, dry and inaccessible to the average, but interested reader. Having an accessible book on Japan’s longest serving PM is much needed, and hopefully more will follow.

I found the backstory particularly enlightening, and the inner minutiae of bureaucratic maneuvers less interesting. For me the book highlighted how Abe started life as an unpromising upper class kid who had no political ideas. Certainly in his early years he didn’t come across as particularly talented or gifted, and seemingly destined for a life away from the spotlight. I’m yet to be convinced that Abe was particularly effective, he mentioned how a leader should be strong but in times of emergency, for example covid, he was conspicuous by his absence.

The book is now rather dated with all that’s happened since, but it’s still a good insight into Abe and the wider cultural movements.

[Justice · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Sean Flinchpaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small window from outside into Japanese politics that helps explain why Shinzo Abe was both revered and hated in equal measure. Fair-handed but not too overly critical, it projects what Abe's political missions were and attempts to fufill them, not if they were good goals in the first place, that's up to the reader's personal politics. If anything after having read the book, Shinzo Abe seems either the precursor to some political concensus waiting to emerge or a nationalistic statesmen trying to technocratically 'juice' the levers of government to move Japan into a new headspace. At this juncture that seems more his legacy than concrete policy, a new outlook, but time will tell if that is the truth. As its hard to read the curves of history this close to a political figures run. Interesting read, for those who crave those 00's History Channel vibes mixed with some C-Span.

[Jessup Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book gives a fairly balanced view toward Abe and his political career, although on certain accounts I believed it to be too positive regarding Abe. I was a bit surprised by this, considering that I saw positive reviews by Michael J. Green and Victor Cha, both right-wing conservatives who have a more positive view regarding Abe.

I only wish it had been published later, as Abe resigned shortly after the book was published and was assassinated less than a year later, making the book out-of-date almost as soon as it was published.

Overall, the book was pretty interesting and engaging. I learned a lot more about Japanese politics and how it works than I expected to.

[Fahim Iqbal · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5
The book is thorough in its assessment on Shinzo Abe and gives a good background history of Japan’s post war political history. As mentioned before the thoroughness done by Harris in examining Shinzo Abe’s foreign policy was interesting to read and informed me of things I didn’t know about Japanese Foreign Policy. The economic stuff was confusing to understand but that has to do with more of my lack of understanding surrounding this topic. Some parts of the books are to thorough that my mind gets twisted up in a maze. However this should not dissuade anyone from reading the book

[Javier Delgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tobias Harris' biography of Prime Minister Abe will become an essential book to everyone that desires to learn and understand Japanese Politics. He manages skilfully to portrait the political trajectory of Abe, a man that came back from political loss to power, but ultimately was defeated by his own health and the coronavirus pandemic, which broke his dream of watching the Tokyo Olympics as Prime Minister.

[Nobutaka H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tobias Harris does a fantastic job showing who Shinzo Abe is and how he came to be the longest serving Japanese prime minister he is today. It was helpful for me to understand Japan from the POV of those who wish the country would have a bigger role on the global stage.
If you're interested in Japan's history and culture, told in a narrative that spans a couple of generations from Kishi to Abe, then this is a great read.

[Ian Steffensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in lucid prose, author spends the whole book praising the late prime minister's accomplishments but rambles at times. Out of nowhere in the afterword the author does a complete 180 and bashes Abe and says he has no legacy which was super random, anyways a detailed and very interesting account.

[Jeremy Kitchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it a pretty compelling read. Not only did it give the full account for Abe's rise to power and his successes and failures in office, it also gave a great overview of the geopolitical pressures that Japan faces in the 21st century.

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read many texts on Japanese government and leadership history, this book is well-written and contains the perfect blend of history and context to best understand the many facets of Abe's legacy.

[Gijs · Rating 4 out of 5]

heel veel inzichten, niet alleen over abe maar ook over japanse politiek in het algemeen!
over het nawoord: achteraf zo komisch hoe we in 2020 allemaal geloofden dat coof de wereld voor goed zou veranderen

[Syed Emir Ashman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Shinzo Abe is one of the more interesting political figures of our time. A solid statesman.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good (and entertaining) account of Abe Shinzo's political career.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent deep dive into Abe’s life, world view, and legacy, combined with a detailed discussion of Japanese political history since WWII.

[Sam Enright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb – by far the best source I've read about Japanese politics. The author was also great on the 'Chinatalk' podcast.

[Zach]

Rest in peace space cowboy