TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Sunday (Sep 7) he would step down after less than a year in power in which he lost his majority in both houses of parliament, amid voter anger over rising living costs.
“I have decided to resign from the position of president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),” he said, referring to Japan’s ruling party, which has governed almost uninterrupted for decades.
The announcement means fresh uncertainty for the world’s fourth-largest economy as it battles rising food prices and deals with the fallout of United States tariffs on its vital auto sector.
“Now that negotiations on US tariff measures have reached a conclusion, I believe this is the appropriate moment,” Ishiba told a news conference.
“I have decided to step aside and make way for the next generation,” he said.
US President Donald Trump signed an order on Thursday to lower tariffs on Japanese autos, with Washington finally moving to implement a trade pact negotiated with Tokyo in July.
However, although Japanese autos will now face a 15 per cent tariff instead of the current 27.5 per cent, the levy will still cause significant pain in the crucial industry.
Ishiaba, 68, won the party leadership in September 2024 to become the LDP’s 10th separate prime minister since 2000, all of them men.
Ishiba, who took office in October last year, had resisted calls to quit from mostly rightwing opponents within his own party for more than a month after the LDP-led coalition lost its upper house majority in an election in July.
He had reiterated on Tuesday that he has no immediate intention to resign, saying that he will make a decision on how to take responsibility for the election loss at “appropriate timing”.
Public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday Ishiba made the decision to quit to avoid a split in the party, while the Asahi Shimbun daily said he was unable to withstand the mounting calls for his resignation.
The farm minister and a former prime minister reportedly met with Ishiba on Saturday night to urge him to resign voluntarily.
Four senior LDP officials, including the party’s number two Hiroshi Moriyama, offered to resign last week.
Opponents of Ishiba had been calling for him to step down to take responsibility for the election results, following the upper chamber vote in July.
Those backing the move included Taro Aso, the influential 84-year-old former prime minister, according to Japanese media.
Ishiba’s term as party leader was supposed to end in September 2027.
His most prominent rival Sanae Takaichi, who is seen as a hardline nationalist, all but said on Tuesday that she would seek a contest.
Concern over political uncertainty led to a sell-off in the yen and Japanese government bonds last week, with the yield on the 30-year bond hitting a record high on Wednesday.
With Ishiba’s resignation, one of his last acts as premier will have been to finalise details of a trade deal with the US last week, under which Japan pledged US$550 billion of investments in return for lower tariffs from US President Donald Trump on Japan’s key autos sector.
The LDP has governed almost continuously since 1955, but voters have been deserting the party, including towards fringe groups such as the populist Sanseito.
Factors include rising prices, notably for rice, falling living standards, and anger at corruption scandals within the LDP.
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