Shinzo Abe; born 21 September 1954}} was the 90th Prime Minister of Japan, elected by a special session of the National Diet on 26 September 2006. He was Japan's youngest post-World War II prime minister and the first born after the war. He resigned abruptly on 12 September 2007 after months of mounting political pressure. He was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda, now the 91st Prime Minister of Japan.

Abe was born into a political family, and studied political science in Japan. He has also studied in the United States. He worked in the private sector until 1982 when he began the first of several government jobs. He entered politics in 1993 when he won an election in the Yamaguchi Prefecture. Abe served under Prime Ministers Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi, eventually becoming Koizumi's Chief Cabinet Secretary. Abe gained national fame for the strong stance he took against North Korea, which eventually propelled him to presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Prime Minister's office. While expected to follow the economic policies of his predecessor, Abe was also expected to improve the previously strained relations with the People's Republic of China.