Japan’s Kishida to step aside as leader of the key U.S. ally as scandals take their toll

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that he would step aside next month, meaning the key U.S. ally will have a new leader as it confronts China abroad and a mix of scandal and economic issues at home.

Kishida, 67, made the surprise announcement that he would not run to remain leader of his party in September, paving the way for a new prime minister.

Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, Kishida said the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has been beset by a series of corruption scandals, needed to demonstrate to the public that it is changing by making the leadership election process more transparent and encouraging intraparty discourse and debate.

The first step in that process, he said, is for him to step down.

“I will not be running in the upcoming leadership election,” Kishida said. “Rather, I will do my utmost to support whoever becomes the new leader as a foot soldier.”

Kishida was elected in September 2021 to a three-year term as president of the LDP, which controls both houses of parliament. Since the head of the governing party is elected by parliament as Japan’s leader, that means Kishida will no longer be prime minister after the LDP’s September presidential election, the specific date for which has not yet been set.

The Biden administration has made a point of strengthening U.S. ties with Japan, the world’s fourth-largest economy, as part of its efforts to counter China in the Asia-Pacific. In April, the U.S. and Japan announced a historic upgrade to their security alliance while Kishida was on a state visit to Washington.

Kishida has also built up the Japanese military and improved relations with South Korea, another U.S. ally in the region.

In a post on X, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel called Kishida “a true friend of the United States.”

“Under Prime Minister Kishida’s steadfast leadership, Japan and the United States have ushered in a new era of relations for the Alliance,” he said.

Kishida’s public approval ratings have been dismally low since last fall, when the LDP was revealed to have raised unreported political funds through tickets sold for party events. Most of the more than 80 LDP lawmakers involved were from a powerful faction of the party that had been led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before his assassination in 2022. 

Kishida, who was never personally implicated in the scandal, responded by removing Cabinet ministers and others from LDP executive posts, dissolving multiple party factions and tightening Japan’s political funds control law. 

But the media and public accused him of weak party management, and in parliamentary by-elections in April, the LDP lost all three seats being contested in what was viewed as punishment by voters.

With general elections scheduled to be held next year, LDP members had started to complain publicly that they couldn’t win with Kishida as the public face of the party.

Experts say there are no clear candidates who might be able to boost the LDP’s popularity.

“It’s open field for the next president,” Rintaro Nishimura, an associate of the Asia Group, a strategic advisory firm based in Washington, told Reuters, adding that it would also be important who Kishida endorsed.

“The new leader needs to be a fresh face,” said Nishimura, who is based in Tokyo, “whether that means young or not associated with Kishida, and reform-minded, showing voters that the party will change.”

Arata Yamamoto reported from Tokyo, and Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong.