{O/C} Shinzo Abe is best remembered for being a polarising arch-conservative leviathan in Japan.
His first stint as prime minister was laden with scandals, yet he was credited with the revitalisation of the nation's economy.
But critics scorned the conservative and longest-serving prime minister.
Let's take a look back at his legacy.
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Born in an affluent political family that wielded impregnable influence, Abe emulated his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi's success.
His oft-repeated political rhetoric has always been to build a more assertive global military role and bigger say in international affairs.
He worked up way up the political ladder before becoming the youngest prime minister for the first time in 2006.
But just as his critics pointed out, scandals were constantly lurking in the background, depriving the hapless Japanese people of political stability and long-term policies.
His first stint as prime minister ended abruptly a year later.
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After his nadir in 2007, he made a comeback with a vengeance in 2012, wiping the slate clean with pledges to reinvigorate the country's economy with his unique "Abenomics" formula, which boasted fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms.
He also ramped up patriotic education in schools and expanded Japan's sphere of influence.
Still, the chips were down when his ultra-nationalistic two cents aroused the ire of both the Koreas and China.
Despite the longstanding amicable relationship between the U.S. and Japan, he failed to re-write the U.S.-drafted pacifist constitution because of inadequate public backing.
He was also notorious for scything through parliament with disputatious issues.
Though credited with hosting the 2020 Olympics amid the COVID conundrum, he resigned in September 2020 due to lingering health concerns -- the recurrence of the ulcerative colitis that'd bothered him since he was a teenager.
When all's said and done, he maintained a fortified hold on power that underpinned Japan's burgeoning global military role and capability, as well as its security alliance with the West.
Abe was 67 years old.
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