Overview

• Official campaigning began on Sept. 22 with five contenders to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
• The Oct. 4 leadership vote is limited to LDP lawmakers and dues-paying members, and the winner is expected to be nominated for prime minister in a parliamentary vote.
• Shinjiro Koizumi pledges wage-led growth, targeting a one million yen average annual pay rise by fiscal 2030, and plans a supplementary budget and possible abolition of the provisional gasoline tax.
• Koizumi has secured backing from senior figures including Taro Kono and Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, who will run his campaign.
• Sanae Takaichi, a conservative seen as favoring fiscal stimulus, could become Japan’s first female prime minister, with polls placing her and Koizumi as the front-runners.