Fumio Kishida, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, was elected prime minister. He takes the place of Yoshihide Suga. With his party’s control of both chambers, 64-year-old Kishida won the majority of votes in parliament. The appointment of his government is expected in the next few hours. In the evening the official inauguration at the Presidential Palace, where he will hold a press conference. General elections will be held on 31 October.
Fumio Kishida collects the legacy of Yoshihide Suga, but above all of the predecessor Shinzo Abe. At the head of diplomacy from 2012 to 2017, on 29 September Kishida won the primary elections for the leadership of the LDP, the Liberal Democratic Party, supported by the more conservative wing. He got the better of the popular Taro Kono, the coronavirus vaccination minister. And he has already promised to increase the wealth of Japan’s middle class and to introduce a “new capitalism”. 64-year-old Kishida, originally from Hiroshima, the son of a ‘political dynasty’, was already a candidate last year for the succession to Shinzo Abe and became Japan’s 100th prime minister. He will lead the LDP towards the general elections scheduled for October 31st.
As a child, Kishida spent three years in New York when his father was sent to the United States as a senior official in the Department of Commerce and attended a public school in Queens here. And it is here, he says himself, that he learned the importance of the ideals of diversity and justice. After graduating from the prestigious Waseda University in Tokyo, Kishida worked briefly at the bank before becoming a member of the House of Representatives in 1993. As foreign minister in the Abe government from 2012 to 2017, Kishida helped organize the historic visit. by US President Barack Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in 2016. Another important achievement as the head of diplomacy in Tokyo, the reaching of an agreement with South Korea in which Japan compensated the “comfort women”, term for sex slaves by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Kishida has always defended Japan’s policy of staying out of the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty citing the need to rely on the US ally’s nuclear deterrence. After Kono replaced him as foreign minister, Kishida served briefly as defense minister.
“My ability is to really listen to people – said Kishida after the LPD had chosen him as leader – I am determined to commit myself to everyone for an open LDP and a bright future for Japan”. He promised to spend billions of dollars to contribute to the recovery of the economy, he was more critical than others of the ‘Abenomics’ strategy, he proposes a “new capitalism”, he wants to reduce the disparities between rich and poor. On the foreign policy front, he recently switched to a harsher, hawkish tone and accused Beijing of wanting to export “its authoritarian system”. He wants to strengthen the defense and, like his predecessors, supports the close security alliance with the US.