Kan Abe

Kan Abe (安倍 寛, Abe Kan) was born on 29 April 1894 in Heki, present-day Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. He was the eldest son of Abe Hyōsuke and his wife Tame. The Abe family was historically prominent as landowners and manufacturers of sake and soy sauce in Heki, with a history of serving as nanushi, or village heads, during the Edo period. His paternal line was from the Mukunoki family in Ōtsu; his father was adopted into his mother's family through marriage. Both of Abe's parents died by the time he was four years old, and he was subsequently raised by his aunt, Yoshi.

Abe pursued higher education at Tokyo Imperial University, which is now known as the University of Tokyo.

In his early political endeavors, Abe ran as a candidate for the Seiyūkai Party in the February 1928 general election but was not elected. He was appointed village mayor of Heki in 1933 and later served as a member of the Yamaguchi Prefectural Assembly.

In February 1937, Abe was elected to the Japanese House of Representatives as an independent candidate. He was associated with the Satō–Kishi–Abe political family lineage; he was the father of Shintaro Abe, who later served as Foreign Minister, and the grandfather of Shinzō Abe, who became Prime Minister of Japan.

During World War II, Abe was known for his opposition to the militarist government led by Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. In the 1942 general election, he campaigned against the government and was elected despite the Tojo administration's efforts to prevent antiwar candidates from running via a registration system. Following his election, Abe attempted to challenge Tojo's leadership and sought to end the ongoing war.

Abe received assistance from Takeo Miki, a fellow politician who later became Prime Minister of Japan after World War II.

Kan Abe died of a heart attack on 30 January 1946 while preparing to run in Japan’s first post-war general election.