Shinzo Abe Survived By Akie Abe; Here's All About Their Marriage Through The Years

Akie Abe, wife of former Japanese Prime Minister, Late Shinzo Abe, assassinated in Nara during a campaign event reportedly stayed by his side during his ailing health and career setbacks. Shinzo Abe was reportedly shot in the neck around 11.30 am. 

Being a flagbearer of LGBT rights and “womenomics,” an idea propagated by the Abe administration for low female participation in the Japanese economy, Akie Abe is also a former radio DJ who transformed into the “first lady” of Japan.

Shinzo Abe Wife Akie Abe And Their Marriage

Although reports reveal that her views were at odds with Abe’s, and that the family is yet to release a statement on his death, the two shared some important bits of life which helped empower them both. 

• Shinzo Abe wife Akie, 60, was the daughter of a wealthy businessman, a university graduate working at one of the world’s largest advertising agencies called Dentsu International when she was introduced to Shinzo Abe, a rising political aide at that time. Akie was in her early 30s. 
• In 1987, the couple got married. 
• The couple did not have any children.
• Abe broke through her silence and the idea of the “supportive wife” of a Prime Minister  adopting the American approach to assuming the role of “first lady.”
• When the Shinzo Abe administration was hit hard owing to a series of scandals, the government’s loss of pension records along with a loss in the July 2007 elections, Ake set up a new career in an informal Japanese bar called izakaya. 
• As soon as Abe was reelected in 2012 Akie embraced the role of “first lady,” joining the gay pride parade in Tokyo and promoting cannabis culture in Japan. 
• Not only is Abe’s relationship with her husband a metaphor for equality but also a signifier of how men must play their part in providing women with the flexibility they deserve to advance economic growth in developed nations like Japan.
• Abe is also a leading figure in “womenomics,” the idea that women must participate in the economy equally as men to sustain it. Shinzo Abe had announced this concept as one of the top priorities in his administration. 
• Shinzo Abe was also said to have defended his wife when she had become the heart of a suspected cronyism scandal. 
• In the early years of their union, Abe worked as a radio DJ in Shimonoseki, the hometown of her husband, going by the stage name "Akky." Abe, the son of a well-known political family, was just beginning his illustrious career at the time.

Suggested Reading: When Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe And His Wife Were Scrutinised For Being Childless