Former Defense Minister and party heavyweight Shigeru Ishiba won the race on Friday to succeed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the nation’s next prime minister.
7 p.m. We will be closing the blog now. For more information about this historic day, take a look at some of our other articles on Ishiba.
At a press conference following his victory, Ishiba vowed to boost wages and end deflation, and touched on national security issues, including his vision of an Asian NATO.
‘In a time of declining U.S. power, the question is how to create a collective security system in the region. We should think about organically combining many alliances that we have.”
“As we are facing many security issues, we will make sure to protect Japan,” he said in reference to recent moves including airspace intrusions by Russia and China, and North Korean missile launches.
Asked about intention to consider revising the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, he said that “it is important to build a training base for the Japan’s Self-Defense Forces in the United States” as an effective way to strengthen Japan’s alliance with the U.S.
He gave few details on his future cabinet line-up, nor state exactly when he would call a general election.
6:23 p.m. Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, the country’s leading business lobby, released a comment welcoming “experienced politician” Ishiba’s appointment.
The group stressed that “Energy policy is essential, especially in maximizing the use of nuclear energy and promoting research and development of innovative reactors and nuclear fusion.”
Ishiba is known to have cautious views on nuclear due to safety concerns.
5:23 p.m. Japanese stocks are not reacting well to Ishiba’s victory, which came after trading ended. Nikkei 225 Futures plummeted to 37,900, down 1,950 points, or 5.1%, at the opening of the Friday night session. It then fell as much as 2,220 points, or 5.8%, to 37,630 at 4:36 p.m. Ishiba is in favor of raising rates and is open to higher capital gains taxes.
4:48 p.m. Read our story on how currency markets reacted to Ishiba’s win.
4:45 p.m. China expressed hope on Friday for Japan to adopt an “objective and correct” understanding of its neighbor and collaborate to foster healthy and stable two-way relations, Reuters reported. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks during a regular news conference in Beijing, when asked about the prospects of Japan’s former defence minister set to become its next prime minister.
