Abe's promise to restore Japan economy haunting him

Tokyo

IT WAS an irresistible promise: elect me, I'll bring back Japan's once-soaring economy and restore its battered national pride.

Three years later, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is facing the enormity of his grand ambitions, and the clock is ticking.

Mr Abe, 60, swept to power in December 2012 with a novel recipe for success, energising a one-time global powerhouse that languished in a decades-long slump, overshadowed by regional rival China.

The take-charge politician trotted around the globe, inking deals for Japanese firms and selling his eponymous "Abenomics" policy blitz.

Mr Abe's call to action - including big government spending and massive centr…