By Yukiko Ishikawa

8:00 JST, October 5, 2024

The LDP presidential election, in which a record nine candidates ran, ended with Shigeru Ishiba’s upset victory in a runoff. Ishiba won the presidency in his fifth run for the office and became prime minister on October 1.

The outcome of the runoff election against Sanae Takaichi was unclear until the very last moment. Takaichi, who has a strong conservative leaning, gained momentum in the latter half of the election campaign period and came in first in the first round of voting. The prospect of Takaichi as prime minister is thought to have prompted votes for Ishiba due to concerns among Diet members that diplomatic relations with China and South Korea might deteriorate.

Ishiba’s lifework has been pursuing security policy. He has experience both as director general of the former Defense Agency and as defense minister. As prime minister, he will now face world leaders and tackle difficult issues such as the security environment in East Asia and U.S.-China tensions. While there were fears about Takaichi’s prospective relations with China and South Korea, concerns have emerged about Ishiba’s steering of Japan-U.S. relations.

During the election campaign, Ishiba said he would begin a review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which stipulates the legal treatment of U.S. forces when they are active in Japan. Ishiba also said: “As the power of the U.S. declines in relative terms, how can we create a system of collective security in this region? We should organically combine many alliances such as Japan-U.S., U.S.-South Korea, and U.S.-Philippines.” He called for the creation of a system of collective security in Asia similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He also expressed the view that this would be an extension of the Quad, a cooperative framework between Japan, the United States, Australia........

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