“We must be realistic and concrete in our discussions but at the same time, not be numbers-oriented,” Fumio Kishida

 

Japan’s leader forms his own legacy

...But Kishida, who has spent nearly three decades in the shadow of the more charismatic Abe, has also shown an effort to set himself apart from Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.

While pushing to include a revision of the pacifist clause in the Constitution and increase the country’s military spending — two of Abe’s most cherished goals — Kishida distanced himself from Abe’s specific targets.

“We must be realistic and concrete in our discussions but at the same time, not be numbers-oriented,” Kishida said last week.