Background
Abe was born on 14 February 1894 in Kumage District, Yamaguchi, in what is now part of the town of Hirao, as the eldest son of an ex-samurai.
Cabinet minister lawyer police bureacrat
Abe was born on 14 February 1894 in Kumage District, Yamaguchi, in what is now part of the town of Hirao, as the eldest son of an ex-samurai.
In 1920 - graduated from the law school of Tokyo Imperial University.
After his graduation in 1920 from the law school of Tokyo Imperial University, he joined the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In 1932, Abe was appointed Bureau Chief of the Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu (Tokkō), the Japanese special higher police force equivalent to the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, combining both criminal investigation and counter-espionage functions. Under the Peace Preservation Laws, the Tokkō was especially tasked to investigate and control political groups and ideologies deemed to be a threat to public order. Abe quickly made a name for himself in this position by spearheading a vigorous campaign against the Japan Communist Party and suspected sympathizers and supporters from 1932 to 1933, during which time at least 19 people arrested for political crimes died during interrogation while in police custody, including noted proletarian literature movement author Takiji Kobayashi.
Following the February 26 incident, Abe was a member of the council supervising enforcement of martial law in Tokyo. He was appointed twice as Superintendent-General of Metropolitan Police (in 1937 and 1939). He was reappointed to the same position in 1940. During the war years he served as Deputy Director of the Planning Board. He was nominated Minister of Internal Affairs in the Suzuki Cabinet (1945). After the war's end, he was purged. Following the depurge, he started practicing law. He now concurrently holds the chairmanship of the Public Safety and Culture Society. After the surrender of Japan, Abe (along with all other members of the wartime government), was arrested on charges of Class A war crimes by orders of the American occupation authorities and was held in Sugamo Prison. However, he was never brought to trial, and was released after the execution of Hideki Tojo.