Japan's Ruling Party Seeks Leader with Trump Appeal

Relations with Washington Have Been Strained by Tariffs and US Calls for Japan and Others to Spend More on Defense

- Jason Douglas

Among the questions facing ruling-party members who will choose Japan's likely next leader is who will get along best with President Trump. Would it be Sanae Takaichi, a conservative and adherent of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's expansive economic policies? Or Shinjiro Koizumi, a moderate but inexperienced member of a new generation of Japanese politicians who has the kind of energy and polish that Trump often likes?

Neither has formally declared their candidacy, but the pair are widely seen by analysts and lawmakers as the front-runners in a coming poll to select a new Liberal Democratic Party president. Whoever wins would need to be installed as Japan's next prime minister by a vote in parliament.

The current LDP president and prime minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba, announced his resignation on Sunday, pressured by lawmakers who blamed him for a run of election defeats. Trump on Sunday called Ishiba "a very nice man" and said he was surprised at his decision to step down.

In choosing its next leader, Japan's LDP is confronting a dilemma familiar to establishment parties in many Western democracies: Opt for a right-wing candidate who can bring disillusioned conservative voters back into the fold, or choose a more center-of-the-road leader who might be able to extend appeal in other directions.