Notes

Tremors in Tokyo. On August 14, not even three years into his term, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced he would step down in September. For much of Japan’s post–World War II history, administrations have rarely served a full term, and prime ministers have regularly resigned after a year or two—even as the Liberal Democratic Party controlled the government every year but one since 1955.

The new century seemed to bring a new stability to Japan, with Junichiro Koizumi leading the country for five years and then Shinzo Abe for eight. So what happened with Kishida?

News reports have cited corruption scandals: LDP officials held fundraisers but kept some of the donations in secret slush funds—and Kishida largely brushed off responsibility, helping push his approval rating down to 25 percent.

But they also cite polls that show acute anger about the economy. Since the pandemic, the cost of living has climbed dramatically in Japan, where inflation carries a special weight: For decades, the country has struggled with a stagnant economy—including stagnant wages, minimal GDP growth, and prices either holding steady or, in some cases, declining.

You can see the connection to a global pattern that extends far beyond Japan, around the post-pandemic world: Globally, economic turbulence has driven the cost of food, energy, and a lot of consumer goods higher—and a political wave against incumbents wider.

—Michael Bluhm