Japan media darling to run for ruling party leadership: reports

Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, center, is surrounded by reporters at the prime minister's office in Tokyo Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Popular Japanese agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi will run in a ruling party leadership election, reports said Friday, possibly up against a veteran nationalist in the contest that could also decide the next Japanese leader.

Koizumi, 44, has been dismissed by some as too inexperienced but his good looks and relative youth have made him a media darling, and among the favourites to replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who said last week he will resign.

The telegenic surfer son of former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, however, stayed tight-lipped about his candidacy, only saying he wants to hear from his home supporters in Yokosuka, near Tokyo, before making his final decision.

“I want to make my final decision after hearing from those” backers, he told a press conference Friday, when asked whether he will seek to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The comment came as several major media outlets, including the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun, said he had told those closest to him that he would run in the Oct. 4 party contest.

The ruling party decided to hold the leadership election after Ishiba announced last weekend that he would step down after losing two national elections in the past year.

The next LDP leader could also become the new prime minister as the ruling party is the largest force in parliament, although it needs to work with other parties to form a majority.

Koizumi is widely seen as one of the top two likely contenders, along with hardline nationalist Sanae Takaichi, 64, who could become Japan’s first woman prime minister.

She is expected to officially declare her candidacy next week.

Koizumi ran for the leadership in 2024, a contest he eventually lost, promising to shake up his “old-fashioned” conservative party.

Meanwhile, former foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi, 69, and former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 50, have declared their candidacies.

Ishiba’s right-hand man, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, is also expected to run in the race.