Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, securing his third consecutive term and setting the stage to become Japan's longest-serving premier.
The following is a chronology of major events related to Abe's government since he returned to power in late 2012, after his first stint as prime minister in 2006-2007.
Dec. 26, 2012 -- Abe becomes prime minister for the second time.
July 21, 2013 -- The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party secures a majority in the House of Councillors election, ending the divided Diet.
Sept. 7 -- Tokyo is chosen as host of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
Dec. 26 -- Abe visits the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, the first prime minister to do so in seven years.
April 1, 2014 -- Japan's consumption tax rate is raised to 8 percent from 5 percent.
July 1 -- The Cabinet approves a re-interpretation of the Constitution to enable the exercise of collective self-defense.
Nov. 18 -- Abe postpones the 2nd-stage consumption tax hike to 10 percent until April 2017 and calls an election.
Dec. 14 -- The ruling coalition retains a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives election.
May 12, 2015 -- Cabinet approves draft security legislation to give legal teeth to its decision in July 2014 aimed at expanding the scope of the Self-Defense Forces' operations overseas.
Aug. 14 -- Abe, in a statement on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, upholds Japan's past apologies for its wartime actions as "unshakable" but stops short of offering a fresh apology of his own.
Sept. 8 -- Abe re-elected unopposed as LDP president.
Sept. 19 -- Japan enacts security laws.
Dec. 28 - Japan and South Korea agree to resolve the protracted dispute over Korean women procured for wartime Japanese military brothels.
May 26-27, 2016 -- Japan hosts the Group of Seven summit in Mie Prefecture.
May 27 -- U.S. President Barack Obama visits Hiroshima.
June 1 -- Abe announces a decision to postpone the consumption tax hike to 10 percent to October 2019 from April 2017.
July 10 -- The ruling coalition wins a majority of contested seats in the upper house election.
Dec. 26-28 -- Abe and Obama visit Pearl Harbor.
Feb. 9-13, 2017 -- Abe visits the United States and holds his first official meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
March 5 -- The LDP decides to extend its term limit for party leaders, potentially enabling Abe to remain in his post until September 2021.
May 3 -- Abe unveils a plan to seek a first-ever change to the pacifist Constitution.
June 15 -- Legislation to criminalize the planning of serious crimes enacted.
July 2 -- The LDP suffers a historic defeat in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election.
Oct. 22 -- The ruling camp retains a two-thirds majority in the lower house election.
June 12, 2018 -- Trump takes up the issue of Japanese abductees during a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Sept. 7 -- Abe and Shigeru Ishiba run in the LDP presidential election.
Sept. 20 -- Abe secures a third consecutive term as LDP leader.
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