TOKYO -- For Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has been trying to restore his plummeting public support, 2018 will be crucial in his quest to stay in office until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
There are three challenges set for 2018: the leadership race of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party in September, a lower house election by the middle of December, and, possibly, a call to postpone a consumption tax increase for the third time.
