News On Japan
Politics | 3

Japan is about to hold the leadership election of the ruling party, and the winner will become the next prime minister. Five candidates are in the running this time. Some people say Japan is doomed no matter who wins. (Japanese Comedian Meshida)

The upcoming Liberal Democratic Party leadership election will determine not only who leads Japan’s ruling party but also who is likely to become the country’s next prime minister, and the voting system itself plays a decisive role in shaping the outcome. The election is decided by a combination of votes from LDP lawmakers in the National Diet and ballots cast by the party’s grassroots members across Japan, creating a two-stage process that balances national and local influence.

With the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election just days away, questions have emerged over the handling of a clerical error in Kanagawa Prefecture’s membership rolls, an organization chaired by Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.

A bombshell report has surfaced in Kanagawa Prefecture, the political base of Shinjiro Koizumi, where as many as 826 members of the Liberal Democratic Party aligned with the Takaichi faction were treated as having resigned from the party without their consent, according to an investigation by the weekly magazine Bunshun.

An anti-immigration rally in Osaka on September 30th descended into chaos as nationalist groups and Antifa counter-protesters clashed in the streets, with loud chants, heated exchanges, and occasional physical altercations captured on camera.

In a September opinion poll conducted by TV Tokyo and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, former Minister of State for Economic Security Takaichi was the frontrunner with 34% when respondents were asked who they believed should be the next Liberal Democratic Party president.

Five candidates vying for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency held a debate with high school students, emphasizing long-term strategies for Japan’s economy and other policy areas.

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership race entered its fifth day on September 26th, with Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi forced to apologize after his campaign team was found to have requested supportive online posts from backers.