Shinzō Abe Abe denied the charges, but support for his administration fell below 30% in the polls, the lowest since taking power in 2012. Those who called for him to step down included former prime minister Junichirō Koizumi. The scandal has been referred to as "Abegate". The scandals, while not damaging his political standing permanently, did little good to his image. In July 2018, Abe's public standing was further hit after he held a drinking party with LDP lawmakers during the peak of the disastrous floodings in western Japan. Abe welcomed the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. Shortly after the summit was
Whaling in Japan 15, 1976. Former president of the Japan Fisheries Association and former Director-General of the Japan Fisheries Agency, Iwao Fujita, became the first Managing Director by appointment. In April 1976, Shintaro Abe, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, declared government support for the newly formed company. Nihon Kyodo Hogei Co. Ltd. was later renamed Kyodo Senpaku Co. Ltd. and merged with the Japan Whaling Association and Institute of Cetacean Research to create the modern Institute of Cetacean Research in 1987. In 1972, the United Nations Environmental Conference produced a 52–0 vote in favor of a 10-year global moratorium on commercial