Tokyo:

Japan voted on Sunday in its tightest election in years, with new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his juggernaut Liberal Democratic Party facing potentially their worst result since 2009.

Opinion surveys suggest the conservative LDP and its junior coalition partner risk falling short of a majority, a result that could deal a knockout blow to Ishiba.

The 67-year-old former defence minister took office and called a snap election after being narrowly selected last month to lead the LDP, which has governed Japan for almost all of the past seven decades.

But voters in the world’s fourth-largest economy have been rankled by rising prices and the fallout from a party slush fund scandal that helped sink previous premier Fumio Kishida.

“I made my decision first and foremost by looking at their economic policies and measures to ease inflation,” Tokyo voter Yoshihiro Uchida, 48, told AFP on Sunday. “I voted for people who are likely to make our lives better.”

Ishiba has pledged to revitalise depressed rural regions and to address the “quiet emergency” of Japan’s falling population through family-friendly measures such as flexible working hours.

But he has rowed back his position on issues including allowing married couples to take separate surnames. He also named only two women ministers in his cabinet.

The self-confessed security policy “geek” has backed the creation of a regional military alliance along the lines of NATO to counter China, although he has cautioned it would “not happen overnight”.

Several polls by Japanese media have found that the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito might struggle to get the 233 lower house seats needed for a majority.

Ishiba has set this threshold as his objective, and missing it would undermine his position in the LDP and mean finding other coalition partners or leading a minority government.

“We want to start afresh as a fair, just and sincere party, and seek your mandate,” Ishiba said at a rally on Saturday.

‘Alternative’ to LDP

Local media speculated that Ishiba could potentially even resign immediately to take responsibility, becoming Japan’s shortest-serving prime minister in the post-war period.

The current record is held by Naruhiko Higashikuni who served for 54 days — four days more than British leader Liz Truss in 2022 — just after Japan’s 1945 defeat in World War II.

In many districts, LDP candidates are neck-and-neck with those from the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the second-biggest in parliament, led by popular former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda.

“The LDP’s politics is all about quickly implementing policies for those who give them loads of cash,” 67-year-old Noda told his supporters on Saturday.

“But those in vulnerable positions… have been ignored,” he added, accusing the government of offering insufficient support for survivors of an earthquake in central Japan.

Noda’s stance “is sort of similar to the LDP’s. He is basically a conservative,” Masato Kamikubo, a political scientist at Ritsumeikan University, told AFP.

“The CDP or Noda can be an alternative to the LDP. Many voters think so,” Kamikubo said.

Ishiba has promised not to actively support the candidates running in the election despite being caught up in the funding scandal.

“I want to focus on young candidates rather than those who have had a long career, because they may bring something different,” said a 63-year-old voter who gave her surname as Taniyama, adding she had “made my decision by elimination”.

Mitsuyuki Ikezoe, 86, said he had voted for the LDP because he was “worried North Korea or Russia may invade Hokkaido” in northern Japan.

But “Ishiba may be treated dismissively by the United States because he is new”, and if Donald Trump becomes president again, “he will not give Ishiba the time of day,” Ikezoe said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, arrives for a campaign for the upcoming general election in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday (October 26, 2024).
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s conservative ruling party braced for a blow to its comfortable majority in the lower house of Parliament in Sunday’s (October 27, 2024) elections amid public rage over the party’s financial scandals and discontent over a stagnant economy. The results could weaken Ishiba’s grip on power, possibly leading Japan into political uncertainty, though a change of government was not expected.

Mr. Ishiba took office on October 1, 2024, replacing his predecessor, Fumio Kishida who resigned after failing to pacify the public over widespread slush fund practices among Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers. Mr. Ishiba immediately ordered a snap election in hopes of shoring up support by using his outspoken, reformist image.

Voting began Sunday (October 27, 2024) morning across Japan, where 1,344 candidates, including a record 314 women, are running for office. Polls will close at 8 p.m., with early results expected within hours.

Mr. Ishiba has set a goal of retaining 233 seats for the ruling coalition between the LDP and its Buddhist-backed junior partner Komeito, a majority in the 465-member lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber Parliament.

Mr. Ishiba, in his final speeches Saturday (October 26, 2024) in Tokyo, apologised over his party’s mishandling of funds and pledged “to restart as an equal, fair, humble and honest party.” He said only the LDP’s ruling coalition can responsibly run Japan with its experience and dependable policies.

Once a popular politician known for his criticism of even his own party’s policies, Mr. Ishiba has also seen support for his weeks-old Cabinet plunge.

The biggest Opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is led by centrist leader Yoshihiko Noda, who briefly served as Prime Minister during the LDP’s 2009-2012 descent from power. Mr. Noda’s party is expected to make significant gains. Mr. Noda says Sunday’s (October 27, 2024) election is a rare chance for a change of Government, which will be the most effective political reform, though his party has trouble finding other opposition groups with which to cooperate.

Analysts suggest Mr. Ishiba could fall short of reaching his target, though his LDP was expected to remain the top party in Japan’s Parliament as voters are skeptical about the Opposition’s ability and inexperience.

“Losing a majority would mean Ishiba would have difficulty establishing policies and could face calls from within his party for a replacement ahead of next summer’s election in the upper house,” experts say.

“The public’s criticisms against the slush funds scandal have intensified, and it won’t go away easily,” said Izuru Makihara, a University of Tokyo professor of politics and public policy. “There is a growing sense of fairness and people are rejecting privileges for politicians,” Makihara said, suggesting Mr. Ishiba needs bold political reform measures to regain public trust.

Mr. Ishiba pledged to revitalize the rural economy, address Japan’s falling birth rate and bolster defense. But his Cabinet has old faces — only two women and was seen as alienating members of the scandal-tainted faction led by late premier Shinzo Abe. Mr. Ishiba quickly retreated from earlier support for a dual surname option for married couples and legalising same-sex marriage, an apparent compromise to the party’s influential ultra-conservatives.

His popularity fell because of “the gap in what the public expected him to be as prime minister versus the reality of what he brought as prime minister,” said Rintaro Nishimura, a political analyst at The Asia Group.

“The LDP is also being tested Sunday (October 27, 2024) for its ability to break from the legacy of Abe, whose policies focused on security, trade and industry but largely ignored equality and diversity, and its nearly eight-year rule led to the corruption,” experts say.

“There could be regrouping attempts among opposition parties to decide whether to cooperate among themselves or join the ruling coalition,” political watchers say.

Potential new partners for the LDP include the Democratic Party of the People, a breakaway group from the CPDJ, which calls for lower taxes, and a conservative Japan Innovation Party, though both are currently denying a possible coalition with the LDP.

The LDP, whose dissolution of most factions that used to help bring together support for pushing through on elections and on policy, is less cohesive and could enter the era of short-lived prime ministers. Ishiba is expected to last at least until the ruling bloc approves key budget plans at the end of December.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right bottom in the frame) attends an extraordinary Diet session at the lower house of parliament on Wednesday (October 9, 2024) in Tokyo.
| Photo Credit: AP

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolved Japan’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday (October 9, 2024) to set up an October 27 snap election and seek a mandate from voters for his nine-day-old government.

Mr. Ishiba took office last week as Fumio Kishida resigned after leading the governing Liberal Democratic Party for three years as it was dogged by corruption scandals.

With the early election, Mr. Ishiba is seeking to secure a majority in the lower house for his governing party while he is still fresh and before the congratulatory mood fades.

The move has been criticised as prioritising an election rather than policies and for allowing little debate. But Japan’s Opposition has remained too fractured to push the governing party out of power.

Mr. Ishiba announced his plans for an election even before he won the party leadership vote and became Prime Minister. His cabinet planned later Wednesday (October 9, 2024) to formally announce the election date and the start of campaigning next Tuesday (October 15, 2024).

Mr. Ishiba and his Cabinet will stay in office until they win the election and are reappointed.

The speaker of the house, Fukushiro Nukaga, announced the dissolution of the lower, more powerful of the two parliamentary chambers at a plenary session. All 465 lawmakers stood up, cheered “banzai” and rushed out of the Assembly room.

“We will act fairly and squarely in order to win the people’s endorsement for the current administration,” Mr. Ishiba told reporters. “Even while the lower house is dissolved, the Japanese government must fully function” in tackling national security, disaster response and deflation, he said. “We will devote all our body and soul for the people.”

Mr. Ishiba planned to explain the election plans at a news conference late Wednesday (October 9, 2024), just before heading to Laos to make his diplomatic debut at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

Opposition leaders have criticised him for rushing to hold an election, allowing only three days of parliamentary debate on his policies and before achieving any results.

Even though Oposition parties are too fractured to topple the governing party’s almost uninterrupted postwar rule, the first public support ratings for Mr. Ishiba as Prime Minister were only about 50% or even lower, the lowest levels for a new leader, according to Japanese media.

Mr. Ishiba is increasingly seen as backpedaling on a number of proposals he previously advocated so as not to create controversy ahead of the election.

In his first policy speech at parliament Friday (October 4, 2024), he did not touch on his goal of establishing a stronger regional military framework and a more equal Japan-U.S. security alliance, a dual surname option for married couples, and other issues seen as controversial or opposed by conservatives within the governing party.

Mr. Ishiba is unaffiliated with factions led and controlled by party heavyweights, which some experts say could make his tenure as party leader unstable.

None of his Cabinet ministers are from the late Shinzo Abe’s faction that has been linked to damaging misconduct. He also plans to not endorse some members of the Abe faction in the upcoming election to show his determination for cleaner politics. Opponents have said that’s still too lax, but Mr. Ishiba is getting backlash within the party for being too strict.

Tokyo:

Japan’s government admitted Monday manipulating an official photo of the new cabinet to make its members look less unkempt, after online mockery of their sagging trousers.

Images taken by local media showed what appeared to be an untidy patch of white shirt under the morning suits of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani.

In the official photo issued by Ishiba’s office, these blemishes had mysteriously disappeared, but not quickly enough to stop a barrage of mockery of the “untidy cabinet” on social media.

“This is more hideous than a group picture of some kind of a seniors’ club during a trip to a hot spring. It’s utterly embarrassing”, one user wrote on X. 

“Minor editing was made,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Monday, while seeking to deflect criticism of the manipulation.

“Group photos during official events of the prime minister’s office, such as the cabinet reshuffle, will be preserved forever as memorabilia, so minor editing is customarily performed on these photos,” he said. 

In March, Catherine, Britain’s Princess of Wales, apologised and said she had edited a photo with her children released by the palace.

The Mother’s Day portrait of a smiling Kate included several inconsistencies and sparked a storm after major news agencies including AFP withdrew the photo saying it had been manipulated.

“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” Kate said in a statement.

 “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Tokyo, Japan:

Japan got a new prime minister on Tuesday, with Shigeru Ishiba setting out to jumpstart a lacklustre economy, defuse a demographic crisis and build an Asian NATO to face down China.

Ishiba, 67, says he intends to call a general election for October 27. He won a tight race on Friday to lead the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed almost continuously for decades.

The former defence minister outlined his policies at a news conference late on Tuesday, warning that “the security environment surrounding our country is the most severe since the end of World War II”.

“With the Japan-US alliance as a foundation, we will expand the circle of friendly and like-minded countries, using diplomacy and defence to realise the peace of Japan and the region,” he said.

Ishiba’s new cabinet of 19 ministers was announced after the LDP-dominated parliament approved his appointment. Just two were women, who have historically been poorly represented in politics and business in Japan.

Foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa, one of five women in the outgoing cabinet, was replaced by Takeshi Iwaya. Katsunobu Kato, who was health minister during the Covid pandemic, was named finance minister, while Gen Nakatani took defence.

Ishiba, who has held at least three previous ministerial posts, tried and failed four times before to become LDP leader.

He finally succeeded this time because, while a divisive figure within the party, he is relatively popular among voters, analysts said, unlike his predecessor Fumio Kishida.

Ishiba’s win “indicates that the LDP sought an experienced leader with broad voter appeal to steer the party in the next national election”, said Yuko Nakano of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“… Ishiba will have the opportunity to reshape the party’s internal dynamics and restore public confidence, while addressing Japan’s broader challenges, including economic stagnation felt by many voters and regional security concerns” if the LDP and its junior coalition partner win an election, Nakano said.

Tumbling stocks

Markets reacted negatively to his selection, with the Nikkei plunging almost five percent on Monday. The benchmark index recovered some ground on Tuesday, closing up 1.9 percent.

Ishiba’s backing of interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan has sent the yen higher, while the prospect of corporate tax hikes has worried investors.

Kato, 68, told Bloomberg News last month that Japan should “keep moving” on interest rates and inflation after years of stagnant prices and borrowing costs “created structural distortions”.

“The Japanese economy stands on the brink of whether to emerge from deflation,” Ishiba said on Tuesday, pledging to continue Kishida’s work.

The military is expected to be another focus for Ishiba, a self-professed defence “geek”.

Kishida undertook to double defence spending and boost ties with the United States and other countries rattled by China’s rise and the behaviour of Russia and North Korea.

A Japanese warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time last week after a Chinese aircraft carrier steamed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan a week earlier.

Japan has also scrambled fighter jets on multiple occasions in recent weeks to respond to activity by Russian and Chinese aircraft, including in its airspace.

Ishiba, who visited Taiwan in August, backs the creation in the region of a military alliance along the lines of NATO, with its tenet of collective defence.

“Replacing Russia with China and Ukraine with Taiwan, the absence of a collective self-defence system like NATO in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defence,” Ishiba said in a recent policy paper.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Japan’s outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida leaves the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on October 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida resigned with his Cabinet on Tuesday (October 1, 2024), paving the way for his likely successor Shigeru Ishiba to take office.

Mr. Kishida took office in 2021 but is leaving so his party can have a fresh leader after his government was dogged by scandals. Mr. Ishiba plans to call a parliamentary election for October 27 after he is formally chosen as Prime Minister later in the day.

“I believe it is important to have the new administration get the public’s judgment as soon as possible,” Mr. Ishiba said Monday in announcing his plan to call a snap election. Opposition parties criticised Mr. Ishiba for allowing only a short period of time for his policies to be examined and discussed in parliament before the national election.

Mr. Ishiba was chosen as the governing Liberal Democratic Party’s leader on Friday (September 27, 2024) to replace Kishida, who announced in August he would resign at the end of his three-year term.

Mr. Ishiba is assured of becoming prime minister later Tuesday in a vote by parliament because it is dominated by his party’s ruling coalition.

Mr. Kishida and his ministers stepped down at a Cabinet meeting in the morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. Mr. Kishida left his office after a brief send-off ceremony in which he was presented a bouquet of red roses and applauded by his staff and former Cabinet members.

“As we face a critical moment in and outside the country, I earnestly hope key policies that will pioneer Japan’s future will be powerfully pursued by the new Cabinet,” Mr. Kishida said in a statement, citing the need to bolster security amid a deepening global divide, such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, while tackling a declining birthrate and population, as well as economic and political reforms at home.

Mr. Ishiba earlier announced his party’s leaders ahead of naming his Cabinet, once he becomes prime minister. Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who came in third in the party leadership race, will head the party’s election task force. He is expected to name defence experts Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister and Gen Nakatani as defense chief.

The majority of his Cabinet ministers, like Mr. Ishiba, are expected to be unaffiliated with factions led and controlled by party heavyweights, and none are from former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s powerful group linked to damaging scandals.

Mr. Ishiba’s lack of stable power base could also mean a fragility of his government, and “could quickly collapse” even though Mr. Ishiba hopes to build up party unity as it prepares for the upcoming election, the liberal-leaning Asahi newspaper said.

The move is also seen as a revenge by Ishiba, who was largely pushed to the side during most of Abe’s reign.

Mr. Ishiba has proposed an Asian version of the NATO military alliance and more discussion among regional partners about the use of the U.S. nuclear deterrence. He also suggested a more equal Japan-U.S. security alliance, including joint management of U.S. bases in Japan and having Japanese Self Defence Force bases in the United States.

Mr. Ishiba outlined his views in an article to the Hudson Institute last week. “The absence of a collective self-defence system like NATO in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defence. Under these circumstances, the creation of an Asian version of NATO is essential to deter China by its Western allies,” he wrote.

Mr. Ishiba proposes combining of existing security and diplomatic groupings, such as the Quad and other bilateral and multilateral frameworks involving the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the Philippines.

He also noted that the Asian version of NATO can also consider sharing of the control of U.S. nuclear weapons in the region as a deterrence against growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia.

Mr. Ishiba on Friday stressed Japan needs to reinforce its security, noting recent violations of Japanese airspace by Russian and Chinese warplanes and repeated missile launches by North Korea.

He pledged to continue Kishida’s economic policy aimed at pulling Japan out of deflation and achieving real salary increases, while tackling challenges such as Japan’s declining birthrate and population and resilience to natural disasters.

The LDP has had a nearly unbroken tenure governing Japan since World War II. The party members may have seen Ishiba’s more centrist views as crucial in pushing back challenges by the liberal-leaning opposition and winning voter support as the party reels from corruption scandals that drove down Mr. Kishida’s popularity.

Mr. Ishiba, first elected to parliament in 1986, has served as defence minister, agriculture minister and in other key Cabinet posts, and was LDP secretary general under Abe.

Shigeru Ishiba, the head of Japan’s governing party, the Liberal Democratic Party speaks during a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, to announce that he plans to call a parliamentary election on October 27
| Photo Credit: AP

Shigeru Ishiba, the head of Japan’s governing party, said Monday (September 30, 2024) he plans to call a parliamentary election to be held on October 27 after he is elected as Prime Minister on Tuesday (October 1, 2024).

Mr. Ishiba was chosen as the Liberal Democratic Party’s leader on Friday (September 27, 2024) and is assured to also succeed Fumio Kishida as Prime Minister because the party’s coalition controls parliament.

Mr. Ishiba mentioned the election date as he announced his top party leadership lineup on Monday (September 30, 2024) ahead of forming his Cabinet. The plan is not official since he is not Prime Minister yet, but Mr. Ishiba said he mentioned the date early for the logistical convenience of those who have to prepare on relatively short notice.

Considered a defence policy expert, Mr. Ishiba secured a come-from-behind win against Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a staunch conservative who hoped to become the country’s first female Prime Minister, in Friday’s (September 27, 2024) vote.

The LDP has had a nearly unbroke tenure governing Japan since World War II. The party members may have seen Mr. Ishiba’s more centrist views as crucial in pushing back challenges by the liberal-leaning opposition and winning voter support as the party reels from corruption scandals that drove down outgoing Mr. Kishida’s popularity.

Mr. Ishiba is a defence and security expert and has proposed an Asian version of the NATO military alliance. He has also advocated for a more equal Japan-U.S. security alliance, including joint management of U.S. bases in Japan and having training bases for Japanese forces in the United States.

Ishiba on Friday (September 27, 2024) stressed Japan needs to reinforce its security, noting recent violations of Japanese airspace by Russian and Chinese warplanes and repeated missile launches by North Korea.

He pledged to continue Mr. Kishida’s economic policy aimed at pulling Japan out of deflation and achieving real salary increases, while tackling challenges such as Japan’s declining birthrate and population and resilence to natural disasters.

Mr. Ishiba, first elected to parliament in 1986, has served as Defence Minister, agriculture minister and in other key Cabinet posts, and was LDP secretary-general under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Amid scandals and turmoil, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has selected former Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba as its new leader. On Tuesday, he will also take on the role of Prime Minister, as the LDP holds a majority in Parliament.

Of late, the ruling dispensation, which has been in power in Japan for most of the post-War era, has seen much turbulence due to internal conflicts and corruption, leading to a plunge in its approval ratings. Japan is also dealing with high inflation and a stagnant economy. Mr. Ishiba has promised to clean up the party, bolster the economy and address national security challenges.

The 67-year-old, who will take over as Japan’s 102nd Prime Minister, is no political novice, having been in politics for four decades.

Mr. Ishiba was born on February 5, 1957 in the rural Tottori prefecture, where his father was Governor. He graduated in 1979 with a law degree from Keio University and joined Mitsui Bank. After a short banking career, Mr. Ishiba began his political career in Tottori prefecture, and was elected to Parliament in 1986. He has held several positions in government, and served as Defence Minister as well as Agriculture and Forestry Minister.

He has been a member of the LDP for most of his political career, save a four-year stint in an Opposition party from 1993 to 1997. Within the LDP, Mr. Ishiba is a part of the more progressive wing, often serving as a dissenting voice and inviting the ire of his colleagues with his views running counter to the party line. He was a vocal critic of former Prime Ministers, including outgoing PM Fumio Kishida. His approach reportedly made it difficult for him to garner the 20 votes needed to qualify as a candidate for Friday’s LDP election, with support mainly coming from rank-and-file members of the LDP.

Mr. Ishiba has been viewed as an “intellectual heavyweight” in the party. He is considered an expert on national security policy and has sought to bolster Japan’s security against external threats, such as Russia, China and North Korea. He has also advocated for lower dependence by the Japanese government on its ally, the U.S, for security support, and called for greater oversight over bases used by U.S forces stationed in Japan. He has suggested the creation of an Asian NATO and a say in how the U.S would use nuclear weapons in Asia.

Reform plans

During his campaign, he mooted changes in governance, suggesting that some Ministries be moved out of Tokyo so as to boost development in other regions. He has also proposed a new agency to oversee the construction of emergency shelters across the country, which is susceptible to natural disasters.

Mr. Ishiba has previously questioned the increased use of nuclear energy and advocated for renewable energy, but has since softened his stance on the matter, saying he would let some reactors remain operational in Japan.

The LDP, which was formed in 1955, has invited public wrath of late. It drew flak for its association with the controversial Unification Church, which has been characterised as a cult by detractors. Further, there were allegations of under-reporting of political funding by party factions over several years, which led to the dissolution of five out of six factions. Japan’s economy faces other challenges—a 30-year-high inflation, ballooning food prices, a weak yen, and stagnant growth. Other issues include an ageing population and challenges within the labour market.

Outgoing PM Kishida declared last month that he would not be seeking re-election, stating in a press conference that it was necessary to show the people that the LDP will change, ahead of the legislative election set to take place before October 2025.

Now, it’s Mr. Ishiba’s responsibility to bring in those changes and make the party and the government better-equipped to tackle the economic and social challenges Japan is facing.

Shigeru Ishiba waves hands at his supporters after he was elected as new head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP), during the party’s leadership election on September 27, 2024, in Tokyo.
| Photo Credit: AP

Former Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba won an election to lead Japan’s governing party on Friday (September 27, 2024) and will become the new Prime Minister next week.

The party leadership win is a ticket to the top job because the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) ruling coalition currently controls Parliament.

Considered a defence policy expert, Mr. Ishiba has proposed an Asian version of the NATO military alliance and a more equal Japan-U.S. security alliance. Mr. Ishiba is a supporter of Taiwan’s democracy. He calls for an establishment of a disaster management agency in one of the world’s most disaster-prone country.

A record nine candidates, including two women, ran in a vote decided by the party’s lawmakers and grassroots members.

No one won a majority in the first round of voting, forcing a runoff between Mr. Ishiba and Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a staunch conservative who ran against Fumio Kishida in 2021. Ms. Takaichi would have become Japan’s first female Prime Minister.

The current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been dogged by party corruption scandals, and the LDP was looking for a fresh leader in hopes of regaining public trust before a looming general election.

The vote was limited to LDP members of Parliament and about one million dues-paying party members. That’s only 1% of the country’s eligible voters.

Past votes were often determined by the party’s powerful faction leaders, but all but one of the six factions have announced their dissolution following the corruption scandals.

There’s widespread worry among experts that the removal of faction support could return Japan to an era similar to the early 2000s, which saw “revolving door” leadership changes and political instability.

A succession of short-lived governments hurts Japanese Prime Ministers’ ability to set up long-term policy goals or develop trusted relations with other leaders.

On Tuesday (October 1, 2024), Fumio Kishida and his Cabinet Ministers will resign. Mr. Ishiba, after being formally elected in a Parliamentary vote, will then form a new Cabinet later in the day.

The main Opposition — the liberal-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan — has struggled to build momentum, despite the LDP scandals. But experts say its newly elected leader, centrist former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, is pushing a conservative shift for the party, could trigger a broader political regroupings.