Letters

Shinzo Abe deftly became Japan's new Prime Minister without giving his country—or its neighbors—a clear idea of his policies. Readers nonetheless cautioned against pigeonholing him

TIME's cover asked, "Who is Shinzo Abe?" [Sept. 18]. The answer was beside the point, for all the difference that would make. Since Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is an unopposable force, the prime ministerial race was virtually uncontested. After perusing a menu of populist issues, Abe championed the Japanese abductees of North Korea very late in the day. The LDP has chosen to turn a blind eye to so many...