Shinzō Abe next diet session. On 16 November 2012, Prime Minister Noda announced the dissolution of the lower house and that the general election would be held on 16 December. Abe campaigned using the slogan ""Nippon o Torimodosu"" (""Take back Japan""), promising economic revival through monetary easing, higher public spending and the continued use of nuclear energy, and a tough line in territorial disputes. In the elections on 16 December 2012, the LDP won 294 seats in the 480 seat House of Representatives. Together with the New Komeito Party (which has partnered with the LDP since the late 1990s), Abe was able
Holy See–Japan relations Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014, and Prince Akishino in 2016. Holy See–Japan relations The relations between the Holy See and Japan were informally established in 1919, when the Japanese government accepted a request by the Holy See to send an apostolic delegate to their country. It was not until 1942 that Japan began full diplomatic relations between the two states, making Japan the first Asian country to do so, and not until 1958 that the Japanese mission to the Vatican in Rome was upgraded to an embassy. The decision was made by Emperor Showa during World War II, hoping that