Japan’s prime minister breaks a record

THIS WEEK Shinzo Abe became the longest-serving prime minister in Japan’s history, with 2,886 days in office. He pipped Taro Katsura, who served three times in the early 20th century, a remote age. But to win the record for the longest uninterrupted spell in office, Mr Abe—who had a brief time as prime minister in 2006-7, dogged by ill health, before returning to power in 2012—will have to stay on until August 24th. Many remember the man he has to beat, not least Mr Abe: Eisaku Sato was his great-uncle. Mr Abe is also the son of a foreign minister and grandson of another notable post-war prime minister, Nobusuke Kishi. In Japan, fate favours some families over others.

Sato’s time in office, from 1964 to 1972, was a golden age. East-West rivalry was a fixed, predictable thing, and Japan sat firmly under all-paid-for American protection. It was able to concentrate on breakneck growth of 10% a year, driven by exports to the West. Even the Vietnam war was good for pacifist Japan, generating demand. Meanwhile, a dose of inflation kept debts under control.