Tokyo

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to keep his initial enthusiasm on Wednesday, as his total tenure exceeded the time in office of any of his predecessors the same day.

“I’ll devote myself body and soul to addressing policy challenges while feeling the weight of my responsibility and remembering the early days when I maintained a sense of tension as if I were walking on thin ice,” Abe told reporters.

Abe said that people in the country were hoping for stable government as they saw a change of prime minister almost every year before his return to power in December 2012. His first administration lasted only a year through September 2007.

“Reflecting deeply on my short-lived first administration, I’ve been making every effort to stabilize politics,” Abe said. “The continued efforts allowed me to have this day.”

Among mounting issues facing his administration, the prime minister cited the need to pull the country fully out of deflation, respond to its graying society, wrap up the post-World War II diplomacy and revise the Constitution.

“With a challenger’s spirit, I’ll continue to try to create a new era,” Abe said.

Jiji Press