Shinzo Abe becomes Japan's prime minister

TOKYO -- Shinzo Abe took office as Japan's seventh prime minister in six years yesterday and vowed to overcome the deep-rooted economic and diplomatic crises facing his country.

Abe was elected as Japan's leader hours earlier, bringing back to power the conservative, pro-business Liberal Democratic Party that governed for most of post-World War II. It replaces the liberal-leaning government of the Democratic Party of Japan that lasted three years.

"Without regaining a strong economy, there is no future for Japan," Abe told his first news conference after becoming prime minister for the second time.

Calling his administration a "crisis breakthrough cabinet," Abe promised to launch bold economic measures to pull Japan out of deflation. He also vowed to step up an alliance with the United States to stabilize Japan's diplomacy, shaken by increasing territorial threats from its neighbors.

Abe, whose nationalist positions have angered Japan's neighbors, was also prime minister in 2006-07 before resigning for health reasons that he says are no longer an issue.

Abe is expected to push for a 2 percent inflation target designed to fight deflation. Continually dropping prices deaden economic activity.

On top of that, he will have to win over a public that gave his party a lukewarm mandate in elections on Dec. 16, along with keeping at bay a still-powerful opposition in parliament.

His administration also faces souring relations with China and a debate over whether resource-poor Japan should wean itself off nuclear energy after last year's earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown at an atomic power plant.

In foreign policy, Abe has stressed his desire to make Japan a bigger player on the world stage. He has said he will support a reinterpretation of Japan's pacifist postwar constitution to loosen the reins on the military, stand up to Beijing over an ongoing territorial dispute and strengthen Tokyo's security alliance with Washington. Beijing has already warned him to tread carefully.