He headed for the United States in the late 1970s, taking English-language and political science classes at the University of Southern California.
Abe returned to Japan in 1979 and worked for the Kobe Steel Corporation for three years, but it was not long before he returned to the family vocation. In 1982 he entered the political world as an executive assistant in the foreign affairs ministry.
Shinzo's actual political career began when he was elected to the district of Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1993 after his father's death in 1991. He was appointed as the Secretary General in 2003 of the Liberal Democratic Party.
