Japan begins race for its next leader

TOKYO — The race is on for the next Japanese prime minister.

Official election campaigning began Friday for the new head of Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party, who typically becomes the national leader because of the party’s control over parliament.

Four candidates are competing in the Sept. 29 vote to replace outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who will quit when his term ends at the end of this month after serving only one year. He took over from predecessor Shinzo Abe.

The candidates’ policies largely focus on the pandemic and its economic fallout, and on the increasingly assertive role China is playing in regional affairs.

Taro Kono, currently the Cabinet minister in charge of vaccinations and a frontrunner, said in his kickoff speech Friday that he wants a society that people see as compassionate.

On foreign policy, Kono, who has served as foreign and defense minister, said Japan and the international community should resolutely address Chinese attempts to change the status quo in the region and “let China know it has to pay a certain cost if it violates international rules.” He said, however, that Japan-China relations are not only about security.

Kono, considered a maverick in Japan’s conservative political culture, says he also seeks to reform his own party.

Suga later Friday said he wants Kono to be his successor.

Support ratings for Suga and his government nosedived over his handling of the coronavirus and insistence on hosting the Olympics despite the pandemic.

The party is hoping that a new leader can bring it victory in general elections that must be held by late November.

Former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, considered a close contender with Kono, said he will listen to the voice of the people and “restore a sense of unity to this country divided by the coronavirus pandemic.” Once seen as a moderate, he has shifted to a security and diplomatic hawk.

Unusually for Japan, two women are competing in the race.

Seiko Noda, who has served as postal and gender equality ministers and is seeking to become Japan’s first female premier, said the country’s rapidly aging and declining population pose a serious security and economic threat because there won’t be enough troops and police.

Sanae Takaichi, who shares Abe’s right-wing political views, called for a stronger military. The former internal affairs minister said she wants ample government spending to create a “beautiful and strong Japan that grows.”