Shinzō Abe previously unavailable in Japan. When he returned to office he used his own case to argue for lessening the time it takes to approve potentially innovative drugs. After resigning as Prime Minister, Abe remained in the National Diet and was re-elected in his Yamaguchi 4th district at the 2009 election when the LDP lost power to the Democratic Party of Japan. On 26 September 2012, Abe was re-elected as president of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party defeating former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba in a runoff vote by 108 votes to 89. Abe returned to the LDP leadership at a time
Sada Abe her disappearance, Sada Abe continues to draw public interest. In addition to the documentary in which Abe herself appeared shortly before she disappeared from the public eye, and the 1976 Japanese-language "In the Realm of the Senses", at least three successful films have been made based on the story. The 1983 film, "Sexy Doll: Abe Sada Sansei", made use of Abe's name in the title. In 1998, a 438-page biography of Abe was published in Japan, and the first full-length book on Abe in English, William Johnston's "Geisha, Harlot, Strangler, Star: A Woman, Sex, and Morality in Modern Japan", was