key takeaways
- Koizumi Shinjirō remains the favorite heading into the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election on Saturday, 4 October.
- While the new party leader will have ten days to negotiate a broader coalition before the Diet selects a new prime minister on 15 October, coalition talks could be time consuming and the next LDP leader will likely take the premiership initially as the head of a minority government.
- The next prime minister will not only have to manage coalition talks but also prepare for a visit by US President Donald Trump and two major regional summits, while preparing a supplemental budget and next year’s general budget.
Japan Foresight 