President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) in the context of "Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)"

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⭐ Core Definition: President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

The president of the Liberal Democratic Party (自由民主党総裁, Jiyū-Minshutō Sōsai) is the highest position and executive authority within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party. The current holder of the position is Sanae Takaichi, who was elected to the position on 4 October 2025, following her victory in the party's presidential election. She is the first woman to hold the role.

Due to the dominance of the LDP in Japanese politics, twenty-six of the twenty-eight presidents (all except Yohei Kono and Sadakazu Tanigaki) have also been the prime minister of Japan.

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President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) in the context of Sanae Takaichi

Sanae Takaichi (born 7 March 1961) is a Japanese politician who is serving as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party since 2025. She is the first woman to hold either of these positions. A member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003 and since 2005, she also held several ministerial posts during the premierships of Shinzo Abe and Fumio Kishida.

Born and raised in Nara Prefecture, Takaichi graduated from Kobe University and worked as an author, legislative aide, and broadcaster before beginning her political career. Elected as an independent to the House of Representatives in the 1993 general election, she joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1996. A protégé of Prime Minister Abe, she held various positions during Abe's premiership, most notably as Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. She was a candidate in the 2021 LDP leadership election, but was eliminated before the runoff, placing third. From 2022 to 2024, during Fumio Kishida's premiership, she served as the Minister of State for Economic Security.

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President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) in the context of Shigeru Ishiba

Shigeru Ishiba (born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2024 until his resignation in 2025. He has represented Tottori 1st in the House of Representatives since 1996. Before his premiership, he was the Minister of Defense from 2007 to 2008 and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2008 to 2009, as well as secretary-general of the LDP from 2012 to 2014.

Born into the Ishiba political family in Tokyo, Ishiba graduated from Keio University in 1979. Prior entering politics after his father's death, Ishiba worked at a bank before being elected to the House of Representatives in the 1986 general election as a member of the LDP at the age of 29. As a Diet member, Ishiba specialized in agricultural policy and defense policy. He served as parliamentary vice minister of agriculture under the premiership of Kiichi Miyazawa, but left the LDP in 1993 to join the Japan Renewal Party. After transitioning through several parties and returning to the LDP in 1997, Ishiba held various prominent positions, including Director-General of the Defense Agency under the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi, Minister of Defense under the premiership of Yasuo Fukuda and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under the premiership of Tarō Asō.

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President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) in the context of 2025 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election

The 2025 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held on 4 October 2025 to elect the next president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. The election was triggered by the resignation of Prime Minister and LDP president Shigeru Ishiba, which was announced on 7 September 2025, amid infighting within the LDP and pressure for a snap election. Ishiba's resignation also came amid the LDP's poor performance in the 2024 general election and the 2025 House of Councillors election, which resulted in the party losing its majority in both chambers.

In this election, all five candidates that ran for the LDP leadership previously ran unsuccessful campaigns in the past. Running in the election were: former Minister of State for Economic Security Sanae Takaichi, Agricultural Minister Shinjirō Koizumi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former Economic Minister Takayuki Kobayashi and former foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

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President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) in the context of Fumio Kishida

Fumio Kishida (born 29 July 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2021 until his resignation in 2024. He has represented Hiroshima 1st in the House of Representatives since 1996. Before his premiership, he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017, as acting Minister of Defense in 2017, and he also chaired the LDP Policy Research Council from 2017 to 2020.

Born into a political family, Kishida spent part of his childhood in the United States, where he attended elementary school in New York City. After beginning his career in finance, Kishida entered politics and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1993 general election as a member of the LDP. Kishida was appointed to Minister of State for Special Missions in the premiership of Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda from 2007 to 2008, and was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2012 after Abe regained the premiership following the 2012 general election, serving for five years and becoming the longest-serving Foreign Affairs Minister in Japanese history. Kishida resigned from the Abe cabinet in 2017 in order to head the LDP's Policy Research Council. Kishida also assumed leadership of the LDP's more moderate Kōchikai faction in 2012 following the retirement of faction leader Makoto Koga, a position he held until his resignation in 2023. Long considered a potential future prime minister, Kishida ran in the 2020 LDP presidential election, but lost to Yoshihide Suga. He ran again for the party leadership in 2021, this time winning in a second round run-off against opponent Taro Kono. Kishida was confirmed as prime minister by the National Diet four days later on 4 October 2021.

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President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) in the context of 2021 Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) leadership election

The 2021 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held on 29 September 2021 to elect the next President of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and Prime Minister of Japan. Fumio Kishida was elected to lead the party and assumed the premiership on 4 October. He led the party into the 2021 Japanese general election.

President of the LDP and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on 3 September that he would not run for his re-election, amid low approval ratings and media reports of dissension within the party. Suga was initially elected President of the LDP in 2020 to serve the rest of former prime minister Shinzo Abe's third and final term after Abe resigned in August 2020 due to health issues.

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President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) in the context of Junichiro Koizumi

Junichiro Koizumi (/kɔɪˈzmi/ koy-ZOO-mee; 小泉 純一郎, Koizumi Jun'ichirō [ko.iꜜzɯmi (d)ʑɯɰ̃.iꜜtɕiɾoː]; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is the sixth-longest serving Prime Minister in Japanese history.

Widely seen as a maverick leader of the LDP upon his election to the position in 2001, Koizumi became known as a neoliberal economic reformer, focusing on reducing Japan's government debt and the privatisation of its postal service. In the 2005 election, Koizumi led the LDP to win one of the largest parliamentary majorities in modern Japanese history. Koizumi also attracted international attention through his deployment of the Japan Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, and through his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine that fueled diplomatic tensions with neighbouring China and South Korea. Koizumi resigned as prime minister in 2006.

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President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) in the context of Tottori 1st district

Tottori 1st district is a parliamentary constituency in Tottori Prefecture that was created in 1994. It has been represented in the House of Representatives of the National Diet of Japan since 1996 by Shigeru Ishiba, the former Prime Minister and President of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2024 until his resignation in 2025.

It covers roughly the Eastern half of Tottori and consists of the cities of Tottori and Kurayoshi and the districts of Iwami, Yazu and the town of Misasa in Tōhaku District. In 2012, 256,020 eligible voters were registered in the district. In 2013 the town of Yurihama was transferred to the 2nd district. Before the 2021 elections, the district had 230,959 eligible voters, fewer than in any other single member electoral district.

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President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) in the context of Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party

The secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party (自由民主党幹事長, Jiyū-Minshutō Kanjichō) is a high-ranking position within the Japanese conservative party, the Liberal Democratic Party. According to the LDP constitution, the secretary-general assists the party president in their duties.

As the LDP vice president is a largely ceremonial position, the secretary-general is de facto the second-most-powerful person in the party. The secretary-general is authorized to raise political donations and controls the party finances. The secretary-general holds the final authority over the list of LDP-backed candidates for the National Diet elections. The secretary-general oversees the LDP Diet Affairs Committee, responsible for steering party-supported bills through both chambers of the Diet, and appoints its chairman. The secretary-general also oversees key LDP organizations such as the personnel, treasury, information research and international bureaus.

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