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With the announcement that Fumio Kishida will give up running in the LDP presidential election and resign as prime minister, discussions about who might succeed him and become the next prime minister of Japan have also surfaced.

The LDP presidential election is held every three years. Fumio Kishida's term as the current LDP president will end on September 30. According to the LDP's rules, the LDP presidential election will be held within 10 days from September 20 to 29.

As the LDP controls both houses of the Japanese Diet, the new LDP president will become the Prime Minister of Japan, and Fumio Kishida will resign. The current popular candidates include former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's son Shinjiro Koizumi, Digital Minister Taro Kono, and Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi.

A Kyodo News survey in April this year showed that Shigeru Ishiba ranked first with 26.2%, followed by Shinjiro Koizumi, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Taro Kono and Sanae Takaichi.

Shigeru Ishiba: Lost in all four elections, but still very popular

Shigeru Ishiba was born in 1957. His father, Jiro Ishiba, was the governor of Tottori Prefecture and the Minister of Home Affairs. Shigeru Ishiba was the Minister of Defense, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Minister in Charge of Regional Revitalization, Chairman of the Policy Research Council of the Liberal Democratic Party, and Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party. Shigeru Ishiba has already revealed his intention to run for the election and ranks first in most opinion polls.

Shigeru Ishiba (Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)

Ishiba Shigeru ran for the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party four times and lost all four times. The main reason was that he lacked allies within the party and was unable to make a difference alone.

However, he is very popular among the grassroots organizations of the Liberal Democratic Party. The Asahi Shimbun revealed that even the former "Abe faction" led by Ishiba Shigeru's "old enemy" Shinzo Abe has voiced that "Ishiba Shigeru, who is the most popular among the people, should join."

When he competed with Abe in 2018, he used the slogan "Integrity, Justice, and Ishiba Shigeru", claiming that the people's trust in politics had been damaged. He wanted to restore "politics that is humble, honest, and close to what the people think and feel" and implement a "100-day plan for political and administrative trust reform."

Junichiro Koizumi's son: a new face at 40

Shinjiro Koizumi was born in 1981. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Kanto Gakuin University in Japan in 2004, and then went to study at Columbia University in the United States. He obtained a master's degree in political science in 2006 and worked as a researcher at the Institute for International Strategic Studies in the United States for one year. After returning to China in 2007, he began to work as his father's secretary. In 2008, he inherited his father's electoral territory. In 2009, he ran for the House of Representatives for the first time and was elected.

Shinjiro Koizumi (Photo source: China News Service)

Shinjiro Koizumi is young, handsome, and steady. He is a "new face" in his early 40s and is expected to be elected. He not only inherited his father's vote bank and political philosophy, but also his father's ability to show off and catch the public's attention. Since he became a member of the House of Representatives, he has visited the Yasukuni Shrine every August 15th.

It has been reported that Koizumi is well-known in Japan and is a popular candidate for prime minister. It is said that there are voices of support for Koizumi around Yoshihide Suga.

Taro Kono: His attitude is different from that of the pro-China family

Taro Kono was born in 1963. He comes from a political family. His father, Yohei Kono, and grandfather, Ichiro Kono, are both famous Japanese politicians. He graduated from Georgetown University in the United States, is fluent in English, and is good at communicating directly with the public through social media. He has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense.

Taro Kono (Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)

The Kono family is a well-known China-friendly faction in Japanese politics. When Kono Taro's father, Kono Yohei, was the Chief Cabinet Secretary, he issued the "Kono Statement" in 1993, in which he made a statement on the results of the investigation into the "comfort women" issue, admitting that the Japanese army was directly involved in setting up "comfort stations" in the Korean Peninsula and China and forcibly recruiting local women to serve as "comfort women", and apologized and reflected on this. The "Kono Statement" became the official position of the Japanese government on the "comfort women" issue.

But Taro Kono's attitude is different from that of his family.

According to a 2021 report by Xinhua News Agency, Taro Kono was running for the position of prime minister at the time. When reporters asked Taro Kono about his position on historical issues, he said he would follow the consistent position of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Taro Kono advocates strengthening defense capabilities and re-examining national security strategies to respond to new threats; enhancing the Self-Defense Forces' defense capabilities in new areas such as cyberspace, space, and electromagnetic waves; strengthening relevant mechanisms and deterrence to counter "attempts to unilaterally change the status quo"; and building an "alliance to defend basic values ​​such as freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights" to establish Japan's solid position in the international community.

Sanae Takaichi: Aims to become the first female president of the Liberal Democratic Party

Sanae Takaichi was born in 1961 and is the second woman to run for president of the Liberal Democratic Party after current Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike in 2008.

(Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)

She was first elected to the House of Representatives as an independent in 1993. She joined the Liberal Democratic Party in 1996 and served as the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council and Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Takaichi Sanae has a close relationship with Shinzo Abe. After Abe became prime minister for the second time, he appointed TakaichiSanaeShe served as the LDP's Policy Research Council Chair and Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications. Takaichi Sanae served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications for a total of nearly four years, setting a record for the longest tenure in history.

Sanae Takaichi calls herself the successor of Abe's line. Her goal is to become a politician like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who is respected but not necessarily liked.

In addition, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, former Minister of Economic Affairs and Security Takayuki Kobayashi and others are also popular candidates.

The term of office of the current members of the House of Representatives of Japan will expire on October 30, 2025. This means that Japan must hold a House of Representatives election before October 30, 2025.

Japan will also hold a Senate election in the summer of 2025. Affected by the political "black money" scandal, the LDP's support rate continues to be low. Even if a new LDP president is elected, whether he can lead the LDP to win the two major elections next year will determine whether the party can continue to govern stably.

Jimu News Comprehensive Global Times, Xinhua News Agency, Global Magazine, Beijing Daily, Reference News, China News Service

(Source: Jimu News)

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