Nationalist Shinzo Abe is likely Japan's next PM

WAKO, Japan (AP) — The Liberal Democratic Party’s victory in Japan’s parliamentary election Sunday virtually ensures that Shinzo Abe, who resigned as prime minister for health reasons in 2007 after just a year in office, will get a second chance to try to lead Japan out of its economic slump.

In Abe’s political resurrection, the Japanese are confiding their hopes for a national comeback, backing Liberal Democrat pledges to restore the good times of the 1980s and 90s, before the financial bubble went bust and the economy slid into a 20-year funk.