On August 24 after Abe surpassed Sato Eisaku as the longest-serving postwar prime minister, Mainichi compared the foreign policies of the two. Sato secured the return of Okinawa and was able to normalize relations with South Korea, while Abe spoke of resolving Japan’s unfinished diplomatic business; yet, on the Northern Territories and North Korea, he has nothing to show, while Sato’s treaty with South Korea is now under stress. In another critique of Abe’s foreign policy amid support by 52 percent of the public, Kamiya Matake wrote in Sankei’s Seiron that Japan had succumbed to “group think,” especially toward Russia and North Korea. Under a strong leader with just a few advisors who count, it has changed direction toward those countries with excessive optimism and a dearth of open discussion in the LDP. That process offers little chance for rethinking mistakes, he said. Yet, Kamiya in Sankei on October 11 praised Abe’s successful leadership with his “proactive contributor to peace” and Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy. The former means that Japan has more responsibility for world peace and security, and the latter has put it at the core of contributing internationally, linking the Pacific and Indian oceans, influencing US and other countries’ foreign policy. However, for Japan to do more it needs to put more money into defense and boost ODA, fourth in the world, explains Kamiya. Despite shortcomings of late in policies toward Russia and North Korea, Abe deserves mainly praise.

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