Singapore: Japan will soon have its third leader within little more than a year, an event triggered by the early exit of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Tokyo’s revolving door of leaders is hardly an aberration in its post-World War II history – there were six prime ministers between 2006 and 2012 before Shinzo Abe governed for an unprecedented stretch of nearly nine years until 2020.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Friday. Ishiba resigned on Sunday. Credit: AP

Australia, too, is no stranger to tumultuous government, having cycled through six prime ministers between 2010 and 2018. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is the first leader to win back-to-back elections in two decades.

But Japan’s leadership vacuum adds to a picture of chaotic governance in the pillar of East Asian democracy at a time when the international system is being roiled by an unpredictable White House and China’s bid to assert its authority as a global superpower.

Just three days ago, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles met with Ishiba and their ministerial counterparts in Tokyo to discuss defence and regional security.

The timing was significant, occurring just days after China projected its alternative vision of a non-democratic world order in a massive military parade attended by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. Australia sent only a low-level diplomatic presence.

The meeting........

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