The air was music-filled and festive Wednesday as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took the stage to kick off the Liberal Democratic Party's annual convention to finish off the banner "Utsukushii Kuni Nippon" ("Japan, a Beautiful Country").
The saying, Abe's motto since he took office in September, was then placed under the Hinomaru national flag, and the hundreds of party faithful stood to face the flag and sing the national anthem.
They then moved on to the party song "Warera" ("Us"). "One person's happiness is everyone's happiness," they sang.