Overview

• Koizumi, 44, launched his bid with a pledge to lift average annual pay by ¥1 million by fiscal 2030 and keep wages growing faster than prices.
• He vowed a supplementary FY2025 budget for price relief, the swift abolition of the provisional gasoline tax, and possible increases to the tax-free income threshold.
• He framed his run as a bid to rebuild the LDP for an inflation era and to broaden the ruling coalition’s support through policy talks with opposition parties.
• Taro Kono has endorsed Koizumi, and Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato will lead his campaign operations.
• Kyodo News lists him as the fifth candidate and a frontrunner alongside Sanae Takaichi, with campaigning to start September 22 before the October 4 vote, which will still require a Diet vote to confirm a prime minister because the ruling bloc lacks a Lower House majority.