Farewell Tokyo!　The place Akie Abe chose as her “final home

On October 15, the 100th anniversary of the tragedy that shook the archipelago, the Yamaguchi prefectural funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (aged 67) was held in Shimonoseki City. In addition to local supporters, approximately 2,000 people attended the service, including his brother, Nobuo Kishi, 63, former Minister of Defense, and other members of the Abe faction (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai).

In 1991, my husband’s father, Shintaro Abe, died of pancreatic cancer and was said to be on the verge of becoming prime minister. He was 67 years old, the same age as my husband. My husband, who was his secretary, must have felt his regret more than anyone else. Later, he came back to Shimonoseki, determined to follow his father’s wishes and become a politician. It was the local people who supported my husband. My husband always said, “I can work in Tokyo without worry because of the people who support me in my hometown.

I have met many wonderful people, and with the support of many people, I have been able to do great work for Japan. I consider it to have been a rich 67 years of life. My husband loved Yamaguchi Prefecture, which I also really love, and I would like to do something for the community in the future. I would like to thank you again on behalf of my husband for giving him such a splendid send-off.

Akie, 60, who served as the chief mourner, bowed her head deeply in greeting.

Hearing this greeting, a secretary in the Abe faction of the Liberal Democratic Party was convinced that Akie had chosen Yamaguchi as her final home.

I guess they thought it would be a bad idea to continue living with their mother-in-law Yoko in the mansion in Tomigaya (Shibuya Ward) where they had been living with Shinzo. I thought she might rent a room nearby or return to her parents’ house in Matsuzaki (her maiden name), but when I heard that UZU, a Japanese-style pub that Akie had opened in Kanda at her behest, would close at the end of October, it hit me: “She is planning to leave Tokyo. I was surprised when I heard her speech at the prefectural funeral. When I heard her speech at the prefectural funeral, I was convinced that her destination was Yamaguchi.

The Abe family is moving not to Shimonoseki, where they are based, but to Nagato. The Abe family secretary continued, “The reason why Nagato was chosen is that the Abe family is based in Nagato.

A secretary for the Abe faction continues, “The reason why they moved to Nagato is because it is the birthplace of the Abe family (Hiroshi and Shintaro) and the grave of the Abe family. She probably wants to be close to Shintaro, who is buried in the same grave as her father, Shintaro. It is said that Akie has also decided to join him in the grave at Nagato. The Shimonoseki house is larger and more splendid, but this one is supposed to be a kind of memorial hall where gifts from various countries, furnishings, and manuscripts of numerous speeches that Mr. Abe actually read at international diplomatic occasions will be displayed. In that case, it would be difficult to manage the house privately, so the city or prefecture of Shimonoseki would be entrusted with the management of the house.

Some people thought that Akie might run for office to carry on her husband’s legacy, but supporters of the Abe faction deny this, saying, “Akie must be getting very tired of politics.

About a week after Abe’s shooting, a person close to Yoshimasa Hayashi’s office came to Abe’s office in Shimonoseki and said, ‘I’m going to run for office here next time,’ and left. A prominent prefectural assembly member who is a parent of Assemblyman Hayashi also came to the office of Abe’s patron in Sanyo-Onoda City to tell him, “I’m here on Mr. Hayashi’s behalf, and we will take the new 3rd district.

The Yamaguchi district was redrawn, and Mr. Abe’s former 4th district was incorporated into the new 3rd district, making him a match for Foreign Minister Hayashi. I think they are declaring war and at the same time urging people to switch to the Hayashi faction, saying, ‘There is no Abe faction anymore, so you should join ours. Even at the funeral, they were trying to recruit people to switch sides right up to the opening of the ceremony. No matter how many prominent people in the prefecture gather at the funeral, they are so indiscreet. …… Akie must be thinking, ‘I don’t want to have anything to do with the Hayashi faction at all.

Akie attended a meeting of the Nagato branch of Shinzo Abe’s supporters’ association in Nagato on October 29 and expressed her gratitude; the Abe office in the city is scheduled to be closed by the end of December. It is likely that she will leave the world of fishy politics around the beginning of the new year, and live out the rest of her life quietly while protecting her husband’s grave.