Shinzo Abe – Prime Minister of Japan

Since 2012, Shinzo Abe has been the prime minister of Japan. Before that, he held the role of President from 2006 to 2007 but unexpectedly resigned. He comes from a politically connected family, as both his great uncle and grandfather were prime ministers.

Abe started in politics in the lower house of parliament in Japan and climbed up the ranks. Ever since he retook the prime ministership he has employed a set of economic policies called “Abenomics,” which have put billions of dollars into the economy of Japan to help with growth and development. However, the solution didn’t work as expected and now he is referred to as “Teflon Abe”. In 2016, Forbes ranked Shinzo Abe as the #37 most powerful person in the world.

The masculine name Shinzo can have many different meaning depending on the Kanji used. The name combines many elements, like 信 that means “faith, fidelity, truth, or trust”, 晋 that means “advanced”, 伸 that means “stretch, expand, extend, increase, or lengthen”, 新 that means “new”, 慎 that means “be careful, humility, discreet, or prudent”, or 真 that means “reality, true, or Buddhist sect”; with either the element 三 that means “three” or 蔵 that means “hide, have, own, possess, or storehouse”.

The word, Shinzo refers to the heart, even though that meaning is not right for the name. The given name was used commonly from the Edo Period to about the mid-20th century. However, nowadays it is rarely given to boys if the name is given at all.