Ishiba Shigeru, the LDP’s New Leader and Japan’s Next Prime Minister

Success at Last for Ishiba

Born in Tottori Prefecture in 1957, Ishiba Shigeru, the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party and Japan’s next prime minister, was not a career politician from the start. After graduating from Keiō University, he entered the finance world at Mitsui Bank. It was after the 1981 death of his father, Jirō, who had served as administrative vice construction minister, the governor of Tottori, and minister for home affairs, that Shigeru decided to embark on a career in politics.

Leaving the bank in 1983, he joined the office staff of the LDP faction headed by party heavyweight Tanaka Kakuei. In 1986 he was elected to the House of Representatives as an LDP candidate representing Tottori, becoming the youngest member of the chamber at the time, at just 29 years old.

He has not been a member of the LDP throughout his career. In 1993, when the party went into the opposition for the first time since its formation in 1955, he left the party behind and spent time in the Shinshintō (New Frontier Party) and Shinseitō (Japan Renewal Party). In 1997, though, he would return to the LDP fold.

Known as a policy wonk, Ishiba is particularly keen on issues of security and regional revitalization. He enjoys relatively strong popular support, and has long ranked highly in public opinion polls asking which politician would make an ideal prime minister, but he is also known for his shaky support within the party. In the 2012 LDP presidential contest, he came in first in the initial voting round on the strength of votes from the party rank and file, but lost to Abe Shinzō in the second round, which placed weight on voting by the party’s Diet members. In the most recent party election before this year’s, carried out in 2021, he was forced to keep his own hat out of the ring, throwing his support behind Kōno Tarō.

In 2024, taking his fifth shot at the prize, Ishiba positioned his candidacy as the “culmination of his life in politics” and his “final battle.” He has finally found success in battle, claiming the premiership along with the top spot in the party.

In his personal life, Ishiba is known as a great fan of the Candies, a 1970s idol trio, selecting their songs for his karaoke outings and never needing to look at the screen to refresh his memory of their lyrics. He is also a railway otaku and a builder of plastic models, particularly of fighter planes and warships. In 2022, he founded a parliamentary league of noodle fans, which he still heads, to promote ramen culture as a way to revitalize local economies around the country; during his many trips around Japan he can often be seen in ramen shops, sampling the local takes on the dish.

Some of the plastic models and Candies figures in Ishiba’s office; taken during a 2012 Nippon.com interview. (© Nippon.com)

Ishiba Yoshiko, who will serve as spouse to the prime minister, was a classmate of Shigeru’s at Keiō University. Her cheerful and unpretentious demeanor has won her the trust of her husband’s supporters in Tottori.

Ishiba Shigeru at a Glance

• Date of birth: February 4, 1957 (67 years old)
• Hometown: Yazu, Tottori Prefecture
• Schooling: Graduate of Keiō University (Faculty of Law)
• Previous career: Finance (Mitsui Bank)
• Electoral district: Tottori 1 (elected 12 times)
• Faction history: Was head of Ishiba faction until 2021, when he moved to group of lawmakers able to work with various factions
• Key posts: Director general of the Defense Agency; minister of defense; minister of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; minister for overcoming population decline and vitalizing local economies; minister of state for National Strategic Special Zones; chair of the LDP Policy Research Council; secretary general of the LDP

(Originally published in Japanese on September 27, 2024. Banner photo: Ishiba Shigeru and his wife Yoshiko. © Uwamori Seiji; Kyōdō Images.)