Overview

• Sanae Takaichi leads among LDP supporters at 34.4%, followed by Shinjiro Koizumi at 29.3% and Yoshimasa Hayashi at 19.5%, according to a new Kyodo poll.
• On a live Fuji TV program, Takaichi said Japan could seek to renegotiate a U.S.-linked agreement tied to a US$550 billion investment fund if it proves unfair to Japan.
• A Kyodo survey of LDP prefectural chapter executives found 32 of 47 back tighter curbs on land purchases by foreign buyers, a policy Takaichi and Takayuki Kobayashi endorse as Toshimitsu Motegi proposes centralized oversight.
• Koizumi holds the most lawmaker endorsements with more than 80, while Hayashi has about 60 and Takaichi around 40, with roughly one-fifth of lawmakers yet to declare.
• The leadership election on Oct. 4 allocates 295 votes to Diet members and 295 to rank-and-file ballots, with a same-day runoff between the top two if no first-round majority is reached and prefectural votes reduced to one per chapter in the runoff.