By Seima Oki

8:00 JST, October 4, 2025

The presidential election for the Liberal Democratic Party will be held today, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will step down within the month. After the LDP’s crushing defeat in the July House of Councillors election, Ishiba remained in office without taking responsibility as LDP president, bringing Japanese politics to a standstill for roughly two months.

During this time, there continued to be major shifts in the security environment surrounding Japan, including the Sept. 3 gathering of the leaders of China, Russia and North Korea in Beijing to demonstrate their strategic cooperation. Political stagnation could not be allowed. Under the leadership of the new LDP president, Japan must quickly restore political stability, once again demonstrate leadership in the international community, and strive to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region based on the rule of law.

Although these two months may have tarnished Ishiba’s reputation, his roughly one-year term since taking office in October last year can be objectively viewed as having seen some success in the fields of diplomacy and security. He visited the United States this February and met with President Donald Trump, building a certain degree of personal rapport with him. This is largely due to the legacy of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who established a close relationship with Trump, but stabilizing relations with the volatile Trump is also directly linked to Japan’s national interests, so it’s fair to say that Ishiba has been somewhat successful.

Regarding the U.S. tariff measures, Ishiba appointed his close aide, economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, to handle negotiations, and after around 10 rounds of talks, an........

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