The following is a chronology of major events related to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot by a gunman Friday in western Japan.
Sept. 21, 1954 — Born in Tokyo.
April 1979 — Begins working at Kobe Steel Ltd.
Nov. 1982 — Begins working as a secretary for his father Shintaro Abe, then foreign minister.
July 18, 1993 — Elected to the House of Representatives.
Sept. 21, 2003 — Becomes the secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Oct. 31, 2005 — Becomes chief Cabinet secretary under then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Sept. 20, 2006 — Becomes president of the LDP after its leadership election.
Sept. 26 — Appointed as Japan’s 90th prime minister.
July 29, 2007 — Presides over the LDP’s crushing defeat in the House of Councillors election.
Sept. 12 — Announces his intention to resign as prime minister.
Sept. 26, 2012 — Returns to the LDP presidency after its leadership election.
Dec. 16 — Oversees the LDP’s regaining of a majority in the lower house election.
Dec. 26 — Takes office as Japan’s 96th prime minister.
Dec. 26, 2013 — Visits war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, becoming first prime minister to do so in seven years, triggering criticism from Japan’s neighbors and disappointment by the United States.
Dec. 24, 2014 — Appointed as Japan’s 97th prime minister.
Sept. 19, 2015 — Japan enacts security legislation aimed at expanding the scope of the Self-Defense Forces’ operations overseas.
May 27, 2016 — U.S. President Barack Obama visits Hiroshima with Abe.
May 3, 2017 — Abe unveils a plan to seek a first-ever change to the pacifist Constitution.
Nov. 1 — Appointed as Japan’s 98th prime minister.
March 28, 2018 — Abe apologizes after the Finance Ministry falsified documents related to the heavily discounted sale of state land to school operator Moritomo Gakuen, linked to his wife.
Sept. 20 — Secures a third consecutive term as LDP leader.
Nov. 14 — Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agree to accelerate talks to conclude a peace treaty between the two countries, hampered by a long-standing territorial dispute.
Aug. 24, 2020 — Becomes Japan’s longest-serving prime minister in terms of consecutive days in office.
Aug. 28, 2020 — Announces resignation as prime minister due to a flare-up of his chronic intestinal disease.
Nov. 11, 2021 — Becomes head of the LDP’s largest faction.
July 8, 2022 — Attacked by a gunman in Nara Prefecture.
