Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is also president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), puts red rose marks on names of candidates winning the Lower House election, after winning the majority in the election at headquarters of the LDP in Tokyo, yesterday.

By Takehiko Kambayashi/DPA/Tokyo

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won an overwhelming victory in yesterday’s parliamentary elections. However, a string of daunting tasks lies ahead: from a faltering economy to Japan’s wartime history.

First and foremost for the world’s third-largest economy is the financial shape and outlook for its people and businesses, particularly after it unexpectedly slipped into recession in the third quarter for the third time in four years.

Abe insisted during the election campaign that his economic policy, dubbed Abenomics, is “the only way” to overcome deflation, which has plagued Japan for nearly two decades. But some critics said his economic measures have proven to be wrong, and a majority of the public is opposed to them.

A survey by the Kyodo News agency last week showed most Japanese are sceptical about Abenomics, which is based on fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reforms. Fifty-two per cent of those polled expressed opposition to the policies while 37% supported them, the survey found.

The results were released after the economy had contracted at an annualised rate of 1.9% in the third quarter after a hike in the sales tax in April to 8% from 5%.

In late November, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development revised down Japan’s projected economic growth in 2014 to 0.4% from 0.9% and in 2015 to 0.8% from 1.1%.

Abe, who took office two years ago, still put on an optimistic face during the election campaign, insisting, “Abenomics will increase employment and wages.”

There are some bright spots. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average has jumped 72% since Abe took office, and some major exporters have posted a record profit, thanks to a weaker yen. However, many Japanese have not been able to reap the benefits of the premier’s economics policies.

Household incomes have fallen for 13th months in a row while more people are struggling with job insecurity, government reports showed.

“Some young people have a hard time finding even a low-wage and unstable job once they lose one,” said Hiroki Kubokawa, a social worker at the Hotplus nonprofit in Saitama city in the suburbs of Tokyo.

The depreciation of the yen has driven up import costs, which hit the lives of many people hard, especially low-income earners, Kubokawa said.

More evacuees of the tsunami-induced 2011 nuclear disaster are also hard-pressed to make ends meet because of a lack of government support, said Seiichi Nakate, a leader of residents who have evacuated from areas near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Abe’s LDP; its junior coalition partner, New Komeito; and major media failed to discuss their plight and the fallout of the triple meltdown at the plant in the run-up to the elections, Nakate said.

Abe has been criticised for his eagerness to restart nuclear reactors and export nuclear technologies abroad even though more than 100,000 people still cannot return home because of radioactive contamination from the accident.

All of Japan’s 48 reactors have been taken offline amid public fears of nuclear power generation. However, two reactors are expected to be reactivated early next year on the southern island of Kyushu, which could trigger a series of protests.

One of the most serious problems with Abe is Japan’s relations with the rest of the world, Minoru Morita, a Tokyo-based political analyst, said.

Abe has been criticised for pushing a whitewashing of Japan’s wartime history.

A year ago, the premier’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine sparked an international uproar, in particular in China and South Korea. The war memorial honours Japan’s 2.5mn war dead, including several convicted war criminals.

If the premier continues failing to come to terms with Japan’s wartime aggression in Asia, “Japan will be further isolated,” Morita warned.