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<\/a>\nAbe’s Legacy Lives On in Canberra\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Australia, Takaichi also visited a memorial to Abe in Canberra’s park, where she laid flowers in his honor.<\/p>\n
The site also reflects the deep ties between Australia and Takaichi’s home prefecture of Nara. Nara City and Canberra became sister cities in 1993, and the Japanese-style garden where the memorial stands is known as Canberra Nara Peace Park.<\/p>\n
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Japan and Australia. The treaty is commonly known as the NARA Treaty. According to the account, the idea for the treaty was proposed after the Australian prime minister at the time visited Nara City in 1973 and later held talks with Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.<\/p>\n
By coincidence, Abe was also shot in Nara City in July 2022, during the Upper House election campaign. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kei Sato, who represents the Nara electoral district in the House of Councillors and was present at the scene of the shooting, accompanied Takaichi as she laid flowers.<\/p>\n
The memorial in Canberra was installed in December 2022 by the Australian government and others to honor Abe’s efforts to develop Japan-Australia relations, including during his time as prime minister. It is inscribed with words describing him as “a good friend of Australia” and honoring his achievements.<\/p>\n
Blessed by the ‘Sunshine Man’<\/p>\n
As Takaichi laid flowers at the park, local musicians performed a suite composed in memory of Abe. After placing the flowers before the memorial, she closed her eyes and clasped her hands in prayer for about five seconds.<\/p>\n
Standing quietly behind her with his hands together, Sato later told reporters, “I feel that Prime Minister Takaichi is conscious of former Prime Minister Abe in a positive sense. This visit reaffirmed for me that the Takaichi administration has a mission to firmly inherit and further develop the diplomatic legacy of the Abe administration.”<\/p>\n
During his lifetime, Abe was famous in political circles as one of Japan’s great “sunshine men”\u2014someone who seemed to bring clear weather wherever he went. When Takaichi arrived in Canberra Peace Park, the rain that had been falling since morning stopped, and sunlight broke through the clouds.<\/p>\n