Nine to the starting line | Today in Japanese politics

One final LDP candidate, the CDP goes to Ishikawa, and Japan eyes Russia and China's exercises in the Sea of Japan

Thank you for reading Observing Japan. In light of the volume of activity in Japanese politics, “This Week in Japanese Politics” will become “Today in Japanese Politics” through the LDP election on 27 September. I cannot guarantee it will truly be published daily, but my goal will be to update this feature several times a week for paid subscribers.

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The rundown

Kamikawa Yōko became the ninth and final candidate to enter the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership race, as two hopefuls abandoned their efforts. The party finalized the schedule of events ahead of the 27 September election. In the Constitutional Democratic Party’s campaign, the candidates visited the earthquake-damaged Noto Peninsula and participated in a forum on reconstruction in nearby Kanazawa. Elsewhere in politics, the Diet will likely confirm the next prime minister on 1 October, while the Hyōgo prefectural assembly is moving closer to removing the prefecture’s embattled governor. In economic policy, Koizumi Shinjirō offered more insight into his thinking about Japan’s economy, while in foreign policy, the Japanese government expressed its concerns about joint China-Russia exercises in the Sea of Japan. Finally, with the start of the LDP campaign upon us, the media is running in-depth profiles of the various LDP hopefuls.

LDP leadership election

Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yōko announces her candidacy for the LDP leadership on 11 September. Screenshot by author.

Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yōko formally announced her candidacy for the LDP leadership election on Wednesday, 11 September, making her the ninth candidate to enter the race. In her press conference, the seventy-one-year-old Kamikawa said she had heard many calling for her to become Japan’s first female prime minister, placing the achievement of that milestone at the center of her campaign in a way that Takaichi Sanae, the other female candidate in the field has not.

Her policy appeal – and her political style, frankly – can only be described as Kishida-ism. She called for continuing the outgoing prime minister’s “New Capitalism” policies on incomes and investment; supporting the content industry as a source of growth (Hayashi Yoshimasa, her fellow member of the former Kishida faction and Kishida government proposed the same); and, reflecting her role as foreign minister, strengthening Japan’s diplomatic leadership. On the more divisive questions facing the field, she offered bland compromises, prioritizing the “process” of introducing a system of separate surnames and respecting the party’s decisions on punishments for the kickback scandal. While it once appeared that she might excite voters were she to become Japan’s first female prime minister, it is unclear whether there is much interest within and without the LDP in a Kishida-like successor.