Overview

• Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party formally opened its leadership contest on September 22 with five candidates delivering standing speeches: Takayuki Kobayashi, Toshimitsu Motegi, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Sanae Takaichi, and Shinjiro Koizumi.
• NHK’s text-mining shows divergent emphases across speeches, with Kobayashi stressing economic growth (26%), Motegi focusing on national vision and the economy (18% each), Hayashi prioritizing economic measures (45%), Takaichi highlighting responses to foreigners and foreign capital (43%), and Koizumi centering on party and political reform (about half).
• A key fault line is how the minority LDP can secure working majorities, with debate over cooperation models to pass budgets and legislation.
• Cost-of-living relief dominates the policy agenda, with proposals such as income-tax cuts, refundable credits, and new support grants, while the party’s previous ¥20,000 uniform cash pledge has gone unmentioned by the candidates.
• The campaign continues on September 23 with a joint press conference at party headquarters and a public debate hosted by the party’s youth and women’s bureaus, as about 910,000 party members cast ballots alongside Diet members with 295 votes allotted to each bloc.