In December 2012, Shinzo Abe surprised Japan's political establishment by surging back to power. The surprise rested in the widely held view that his earlier scandal-plagued 366 days as prime minister in 2006-07 had been a complete dud.
Opinion
Abe lacks enduring success as Japan's longest-serving prime minister
In power for nearly 2,886 days, he has not kick-started Japan's economy
