Shigeru Ishiba is set to become Japan’s next Prime Minister as he has won the leadership election of the country’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The party’s majority in the legislature means the winner of the leadership race is certain to be formally elected as the 65th Prime Minister by parliament on October 1, 2024.

Ishiba, 67, will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who announced in August that he would step down following a series of political scandals that fueled calls for him to resign.

Ishiba, a former Defence Minister prevailed on Friday, September 27, 2024, in a tight contest, defeating Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, 63, in a run-off after none of the nine candidates won a majority in the first round of voting earlier in the day.

The final count was 215-194.

Ishiba is popular with the public but has failed four times to secure the LDP’s top job.

It was Ishiba’s fifth attempt to lead the party, a conservative political machine that has ruled Japan almost continuously since the party’s founding in 1955.

Takaichi would have become Japan’s first female Prime Minister if she had won the leadership race.

Yu Uchiyama, a University of Tokyo politics Professor, said ahead of the election that as scandals fuel public discontent within the party, “the tide is in favour of Ishiba and his ‘fair and square’ attitude.”

In brief comments made to lawmakers before the run-off, Ishiba called for a fairer and kinder Japan and tears welled in his eyes after the final results were read out.

Ishiba’s campaign focused heavily on security issues, and he has indicated he will push for more oversight over the United States’s use of its bases in Japan.

On the economy, he has questioned the Bank of Japan’s maverick interest rate policy. A former agriculture minister, Ishiba has also called for more efforts to address rural depopulation.

LDP Presidents are in office for three years and can serve up to three straight terms.

The LDP has governed Japan almost uninterrupted for decades, with the main opposition parties rarely seen as viable alternatives.

Ishiba Promises LDP’s Reborn

Following the vote, Ishiba stated that the LDP could now be “reborn and regain the trust of the people.”

“I will believe in the people, speak the truth with courage and sincerity, and I will do my utmost to make this country a safe and secure place where everyone can live with a smile on their faces once again.”
Shigeru Ishiba

The political veteran has promised a “full exit” from Japan’s high inflation rates, vowing to achieve “growth in real wages.”

He also supports legislation that could allow married women to keep their maiden names, has said Japan should reduce its dependence on nuclear energy in favor of renewables, and has called for an Asian version of the NATO security bloc to counter threats from China and North Korea.

As leader of the ruling party, Ishiba will be tasked with improving the LDP’s image ahead of general elections next year.

He will also take the helm at a time of increasing living costs, which have been exacerbated by the weak yen.

The leader will be tasked with breathing life into the economy, as the central bank moves away from decades of monetary easing that has slashed the value of the yen

With a US presidential election in November, Ishiba will navigate Japanese relations with a new American leader amid growing security challenges in Asia, including an increasingly assertive China and belligerent North Korea.

Japan’s new Prime Minister must face down regional security threats, from an increasingly assertive China and its deepening defence ties with Russia to North Korea’s banned missile tests.