Current Situation of the Abe Administration and Liberal Democratic Party of Japan

Mr. Hoshi's talk will focus on the current status of the Abe Administration on the domestic side, as well as developments in foreign policy and national security. On the domestic side, he will discuss issues such as evaluating Abe's "Three Arrows" of economic policy, an analysis of the core political leaders within the "Abe Team," and the consumption tax hike. For foreign policy and national security, he will discuss topics such as the right of collective self-defense, constitutional amendment, Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine, and Japan-China and Japan-Korea relations.

Hiroshi Hoshi,columnist and senior political writer for Asahi Shimbun, was born in 1955, graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Tokyo.  He then joined the Asahi Shimbun in 1979 and was assigned to the political section in 1985. He covered Kantei (prime minister’s office), Liberal Democratic Party, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others.  He was in Washington, D.C. as a correspondent and then worked at the political desk before he became a senior political writer in 2000, and was assigned as a columnist in 2013.

He appears as a commentator in the TV program from 2002 and has also taught in the graduate school of the University of Tokyo as a project professor for two years from April 2004.  His publications include “Jiminto to Sengo” (Liberal Democratic Party and Post-War Years) from Kodansha Gendai Shinsho, “Terebi Seiji” (TV Politics) from Asahi Sensho, and “Abe Seiken no Nihon” (Japan under Abe Administration) from Asahi Shinsho.