The New York Times on Tuesday advised Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe against seeing his victory in the parliamentary election as an endorsement of his " disturbingly" right-wing foreign-policy views.

"This election was about economics," the newspaper said in an editorial, as exit polls show most Japanese voters delivered a decisive victory to Abe's coalition mainly because of his economic performance.

"Mr. Abe should not, however, treat the results as an endorsement of his disturbingly right-wing foreign-policy views, which include a nationalistic revision of World War II history, overheated rhetoric toward China and attempts to rewrite Japan's Constitution to permit more assertive military actions," the editorial cautioned.

Abe's nationalist rhetoric has not only infuriated Japan's neighbors but also worried the world as a whole.

The newspaper urged the hawkish premier to ride on Japan's growth feat, the result of a variety of fiscal and monetary policies adopted since he took office in December, and his new strength in parliament to push through the remaining, and politically most difficult, parts of his economic agenda.

The paper cited paring back agricultural subsidies, regulations on retail commerce and labor market restrictions that have weakened Japan's growth for decades.

"If these issues cannot be tackled now, it is hard to imagine when they would ever be addressed," it warned, calling for structural reforms to retool Japan's high-wage, high-cost, high- regulation economy in order for the country to compete more effectively in a world where lower-wage countries can produce many of its exports for less.

"To keep commerce going with China, Japan's most important Asian trading partner, Mr. Abe has to stop rubbing raw the wounds of World War II," the editorial said.

"That includes not visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals from that conflict are honored," it added,

"Nor should his government divert budget resources into military muscle flexing. Pushing into these politically contentious areas would erode the economic progress and promise of stable political leadership Mr. Abe has just worked so hard to achieve."