On Aug. 28 in Japan, at the age of 65, Shinzo Abe, the longest lasting prime minister that Japan has ever had, decided to step down due to his declining health conditions. 

Abe has been in power for eight years without interruption. Throughout his years of leadership, Abe has been suffering a non-curable inflammatory bowel disease known as colitis. He has watched over Japan as it went through many disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes and nuclear disasters. 

Abe’s decision to resign was also due to the fact that he didn’t have enough confidence in his decision making. “I decided I shouldn’t continue sitting in this seat as long as I cannot respond to the mandate of the people with confidence.” 

While restoring Japan after all of the natural disasters, Abe was still able to establish a healthy relationship between Japan and the United States. Aside from creating these strong ties, one of Abe’s major accomplishments is bringing the Olympics to Japan for 2020, but this has been postponed because of the coronavirus to 2021. 

Abe stated that he decided to stay in office until he found a successor, and then decided to pass on the torch to Yoshihide Suga, a former cardboard factory worker and farmer’s son.