Former minister Motegi launches bid to replace Ishiba as Japan’s Prime Minister

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secretary-general Toshimitsu Motegi speaks in Tokyo last September. Motegi, a former top diplomat, was the first candidate to join the race to be Japan's next leader, after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation. Photo / Takashi Aoyama, AFP

A former top diplomat dubbed the “Trump whisperer” was the first candidate to join the race to be Japan’s next leader, after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced his resignation earlier today.

Former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is angling to lead the world’s fourth-largest economy as it faces fresh turbulence stemming from rising food prices and fallout from United States tariffs on its crucial auto sector.

The long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will elect its new chief, reportedly in early October, after Ishiba said he would step down after his party fared terribly in two elections.

“We have to move Japan forward, resolving difficult issues at home and abroad,” party heavyweight Motegi told reporters. “I have made up my mind to run.”

During a turbulent 11 months at the helm, Ishiba – initially seen as a safe pair of hands – lost his majority in both houses of Parliament, dealing a major blow to the LDP that has governed almost continuously since 1955.

Repeated calls for him to take responsibility for the losses made his position untenable, reports said.

Motegi, a 69-year-old former LDP secretary-general who was also Trade Minister, is among a clutch of contenders likely to emerge in the coming days.

With strong English, the Harvard-educated politician was dubbed the “Trump whisperer” for his deft handling of tricky US-Japan trade talks.

Another candidate is Sanae Takaichi, a 64-year-old hardline nationalist and one-time heavy metal drummer who lost out to Ishiba in 2024. She would be Japan’s first woman premier.

Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, the telegenic, surfing son of an ex-leader who was recently tasked with lowering rice prices as Ishiba’s Agriculture Minister, could also run.

Other hopefuls could include Yoshimasa Hayashi, Ishiba’s top government spokesman, and Takayuki Kobayashi, former economic security minister.

Ageing population, national debt

The LDP will discuss when and how to elect its new president this week, a party official told AFP, but the new leader will still need approval from both chambers of Parliament to become Japan’s Prime Minister.

There’s a slim chance that the LDP president could lose the vote, with the ruling coalition – made up of the LDP and the Komeito party – a minority in both houses of Parliament.

“The LDP needs to find someone who can unite the party, appeal to the public, but also someone who can gain support from other parties,” Kensuke Takayasu, politics professor of Waseda University, told AFP.

Any new leader will have a host of complex issues to tackle including a rapidly ageing population, colossal national debt, and an economy teetering on the brink of recession as inflation pinches consumers.

Despite a new trade deal with US President Donald Trump, Japanese imports still face tariffs of 15% and Tokyo has promised US$550 billion of investments into the US economy.

The close US strategic ally is also under pressure to further hike defence spending and be more muscular in case of confrontation with China over Taiwan.

-Agence France-Presse