Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan announced his intention to remain in his post until 2018, the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, the “dawn of modern Japan.” He made the announcement on August 12, at Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, formerly named Choshu during the pre-Restoration samurai era. Abe’s forebears were from Choshu, which played a leading role in the overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate and the restoration of Imperial rule – a significant point I have made in previous blog postings including “Samurai Lineage Underlies Japanese Premier’s Drive to Strengthen Military.” The Restoration heroes from Choshu are among the most revered men in Japanese history. There can be little doubt that Abe’s Choshu samurai lineage is connected to his intention to rebuild Japan into a military power. “I’m quietly resolved to make decent achievements as a prime minister from Yamaguchi Prefecture, home to key figures in the Meiji Restoration,” he is quoted in The Japan Times on August 13, 2015.
(I wrote extensively about Choshu and Satsuma, the other leading samurai clan of the Meiji Restoration, in Samurai Revolution.)
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