What’s going on in Japan?

Japan’s Prime Minister suddenly resigned on Sunday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of the Liberal Democratic Party resigned on Sunday and immediately called for emergency elections to replace him.

CNN had more details to share on the story:

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Sunday he had decided to resign, ushering in a potentially lengthy period of policy paralysis at a shaky moment for the world’s fourth-largest economy.

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Ishiba, 68, instructed his Liberal Democratic Party – which has governed Japan for almost all of the post-war era – to hold an emergency leadership race, he told a press conference, adding he would continue his duties until his successor was elected.

Since coming to power less than a year ago, Ishiba has overseen his ruling coalition lose its majorities in elections for both houses of parliament amid voter anger over rising living costs.

Until Sunday, he had refused calls to step down following the latest of those losses in July’s upper house vote. He had focused instead on ironing out details of a trade deal with the United States on President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which have roiled Japan’s critical automotive industry and cast a shadow over weak growth.

“With Japan having signed the trade agreement and the president having signed the executive order, we have passed a key hurdle,” Ishiba said, his voice seeming to catch with emotion. “I would like to pass the baton to the next generation.”

Here’s his post on X:

Earlier in the year, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru visited President Trump at the White House, per the White House:

President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru held their first official meeting today in Washington, D.C., where they affirmed their determination to pursue a new golden age for U.S.-Japan relations that upholds a free and open Indo-Pacific and brings peace and prosperity to a violent and disorderly world.

The two leaders expressed their shared desire for bilateral security and defense cooperation under the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security to grow stronger than ever, and emphasized that the U.S.-Japan Alliance remains the cornerstone of peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Japan reiterated its unwavering commitment to fundamentally reinforce its own defense capabilities, which the United States welcomed.

The United States underscored its unwavering commitment to the defense of Japan, using its full range of capabilities, including nuclear capabilities. The two leaders reaffirmed that Article V of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security applies to the Senkaku Islands, and reiterated their strong opposition to any action that seeks to undermine Japan’s longstanding and peaceful administration of the Senkaku Islands.

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In line with the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security and the U.S.-Japan Guidelines for Defense Cooperation, Japan reaffirmed its role in maintaining peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region by seamlessly responding to any situation from peacetime to contingencies. This has been further enabled by Japan’s 2015 Legislation for Peace and Security, which enhances U.S.-Japan Alliance deterrence and response capabilities.

In order to address an increasingly severe and complex security environment, the two leaders confirmed that they intend to further strengthen U.S.-Japan deterrence and response capabilities by enhancing defense and security cooperation, including by upgrading the respective command and control frameworks of U.S. and Japanese forces, increasing bilateral presence in Japan’s Southwest Islands, increasing readiness through more realistic training and exercises, further enhancing U.S. extended deterrence, and promoting defense equipment and technology cooperation, including co-production, co-development, and co-sustainment that bolsters allied supply chains and strengthens U.S. and Japanese defense industrial capacity, including maritime. The United States and Japan intend to continue their strong partnership in civil space and on aeronautics, science, and human exploration, including on the upcoming Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station that includes U.S. and Japanese astronauts as well as lunar surface exploration on future Artemis missions. The United States and Japan also intend to expand bilateral security cooperation in cyberspace by leveraging new technologies such as artificial intelligence and secure and resilient cloud services to deepen information-sharing. The United States welcomed Japan’s commitment, underpinned by a favorable trend of its defense budget increase, to building capabilities by FY 2027 to consolidate its primary responsibility for defending Japan, and, building on this significant foundation, to fundamentally reinforcing its defense capabilities beyond FY 2027.

 

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