Seoul Gazette - Speculation swirls about Japan PM's future

Ishiba's coalition lost its majority in the upper house in elections on Sunday, just months after suffering the same fate in the lower house, forcing him into a minority government.

Late Sunday Ishiba insisted that he would remain in office in order to "fulfil my responsibility" as Japan sought to agree a trade deal with the United States.

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that a deal had been struck that included lowering threatened tariffs of 25 percent to 15 percent, and cutting auto tariffs to this level.

News reports followed on Wednesday saying that Ishiba would discuss his resignation, potentially in a meeting later that day with senior members of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

But Ishiba told reporters after that gathering: "There was no discussion of whether I should stay on or resign. Media reports suggest that I made a remark to this effect, but never once did I say such a thing," Ishiba said.

"Everyone (in the meeting) shared a strong sense of crisis, and we agreed that the party having infighting must not happen," the 68-year-old told reporters.

Some media interpreted his comments as quashing any speculation that he would throw in the towel, while others said that he still intended to step down soon.

The Yomiuri newspaper said Ishiba wanted his tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa to return from Washington and brief him on the US trade deal.

He would then review the latest political calendar and decide when to announce his resignation and his last date, Yomiuri reported, without giving a source.

- 'Japanese first' -

These and other reports said calls for Ishiba to depart had grown louder within the LDP since the results of the upper house election on Sunday.

The result was a humiliation for the LDP, which has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955.

Voters angry at inflation turned to other parties, notably the "Japanese first" Sanseito, whose "anti-globalist" drive echoes populist movements elsewhere.

The LDP and its junior partner Komeito fell three seats short of retaining a majority.

It came after Ishiba's coalition in October was forced into a minority government in the more powerful lower house, in the LDP's worst result in 15 years.

Ishiba won the party leadership only in September, on his fifth try, to become the 10th LDP prime minister since 2000 -- all of them men.

After years of stagnant or falling prices, consumers in the world's fourth-largest economy have been squeezed by inflation since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In particular, the price of rice has doubled, while resentment has also lingered over an LDP funding scandal.

"I really hope things will get better in Japan, but the population is declining, and I think living in Japan will get tougher and tougher," Naomi Omura, an 80-year-old from Hiroshima, told AFP in Tokyo on Wednesday.

"It is disappointing that Japan cannot act more strongly (towards the United States) but I think it was good that they agreed on a lower tariff," she said.

Tetsuo Momiyama, an 81-year-old Tokyo resident, said Ishiba "is finished already".

"It's a good timing for him to go," Momiyama said.

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T.Gil--SG