Overview

• LDP secretary-general Hiroshi Moriyama offered to resign to take responsibility for election defeats that left the ruling coalition in minority in both parliamentary chambers.
• Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba declined to step down, saying he will make an appropriate decision in due course and will not shirk his responsibilities.
• Senior party figures Shunichi Suzuki and Itsunori Onodera told Ishiba they intend to resign, according to Jiji reporting.
• A Yomiuri poll found 50% want Ishiba to stay in office versus 42% who favor his resignation, with approval of his US trade negotiations rising to 42% and 86% backing a shift to boost rice production.
• Coverage links the support uptick to a late-July US trade agreement that cut certain US tariffs to 15% from 25% plus measures to temper the recent surge in rice prices.