Shigeru Ishiba

Shigeru Ishiba
Official portrait, 2024
Shigeru Ishiba
Born	4 2, 1957
Birthplace	Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Politician
Known for	Prime Minister of Japan (2024–2025), Minister of Defense, Secretary-General of the LDP
Education	Keio University (LLB)
Children	2
Website	[https://www.ishiba.com/ Official site]

Shigeru Ishiba (石破 茂, Ishiba Shigeru; born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from October 2024 until his resignation in 2025. A member of the House of Representatives since 1986, representing Tottori's 1st district since 1996, Ishiba built a decades-long career in national politics with particular expertise in defense and agricultural policy. The son of Jirō Ishiba, a politician who served as governor of Tottori Prefecture and as a Home Affairs Minister, he entered politics after his father's death and was first elected to the Diet at the age of 29. Over the course of his career, Ishiba held a series of prominent cabinet and party posts, including Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Minister of Defense under Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under Prime Minister Tarō Asō, and Secretary-General of the LDP under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. A persistent aspirant to the party's top leadership, Ishiba ran for the LDP presidency five times before finally winning in September 2024, defeating Sanae Takaichi in a run-off vote. His tenure as prime minister was marked by a snap general election that resulted in the LDP coalition losing its parliamentary majority, and he resigned in September 2025 after the party suffered a historic defeat in the House of Councillors election.

Early Life

Shigeru Ishiba was born on 4 February 1957 in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. His father, Jirō Ishiba, was a prominent politician who served as governor of Tottori Prefecture and held the position of Home Affairs Minister in the national government. Growing up in a political household, Ishiba was exposed to the mechanisms of Japanese governance from an early age. His family's roots in Tottori Prefecture would later define his political base and constituency throughout his career.

Ishiba's path into politics was not immediate. After completing his education, he initially pursued a career in the private sector, working at a bank. It was the death of his father that served as the catalyst for his entry into political life. Following his father's passing, Ishiba decided to pursue a career in public service, eventually standing as a candidate for the House of Representatives.

Ishiba has been known throughout his career for certain personal interests that have endeared him to segments of the Japanese public. Reuters described him in a profile as a politician who promised to make Japan "smile again" — a slogan that reflected both his public persona and his stated aspirations for national renewal.

Education

Ishiba attended Keio University, one of Japan's most prestigious private universities, from which he graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. His legal education provided the foundation for his subsequent career, first in banking and then in politics, where his understanding of law and policy would inform his work on defense and agricultural legislation in the Diet.

Career

Early Political Career and Entry into the Diet

Ishiba was first elected to the House of Representatives in the 1986 general election as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, at the age of 29. This made him one of the younger members of the Diet at the time. He established himself as a legislator with particular specialization in two key policy areas: agricultural policy and defense policy. These dual interests would define his career trajectory within both the party and the government over the subsequent decades.

During the early 1990s, Ishiba served as parliamentary vice minister of agriculture under the premiership of Kiichi Miyazawa, a role he held from 26 December 1992 to 21 June 1993. This position provided him with his first experience in the executive branch and deepened his expertise in agricultural affairs, an area of particular importance to his rural Tottori constituency.

Departure from and Return to the LDP

In 1993, Ishiba left the Liberal Democratic Party during a period of significant political realignment in Japan, joining the Japan Renewal Party (Shinseito). This departure reflected broader factional tensions and reformist impulses within Japanese politics during the early 1990s. When the Japan Renewal Party merged with other opposition groups to form the New Frontier Party (Shinshinto) in 1994, Ishiba joined the new entity.

After the New Frontier Party dissolved in 1996, Ishiba briefly served as an independent before returning to the LDP in 1997. His return to the party fold marked the beginning of a period of steady advancement through the ranks of both the party and the government. The experience of having left and returned to the LDP informed Ishiba's later criticisms of party factionalism, though his relationship with the party's internal power structures remained complex throughout his career.

Defense Policy Leadership

Ishiba's most significant policy contributions came in the area of defense. Under Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori, he served as Parliamentary Secretary for Defense from December 2000 to January 2001, and then as Deputy Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency from January to April 2001. These roles positioned him as one of the LDP's foremost experts on security affairs.

His prominence in defense policy was cemented when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed him Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency on 30 September 2002, a position he held until 27 September 2004. During this two-year tenure, Ishiba oversaw Japanese defense policy during a period of heightened regional security concerns and the global War on Terror.

Ishiba returned to the defense portfolio when Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda appointed him as Minister of Defense on 26 September 2007, serving until 2 August 2008. By this time, the Defense Agency had been elevated to full ministry status, making Ishiba the holder of a more prominent cabinet position than he had previously occupied. His tenure was marked by attention to Japan's alliance with the United States and regional security dynamics in East Asia.

Ishiba's views on defense extended to Japan's nuclear capabilities. In November 2017, he made notable public statements suggesting that Japan had the technical ability to build nuclear weapons, a comment that drew significant attention given Japan's pacifist constitution and its status as the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks in wartime.

Minister of Agriculture and Other Cabinet Posts

Following his stint as Defense Minister, Ishiba was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries by Prime Minister Tarō Asō on 24 September 2008, serving until the LDP lost power in the historic 2009 general election on 16 September 2009. This appointment brought his career full circle, returning him to the agricultural policy domain where he had begun his ministerial career.

After the LDP's return to power under Shinzo Abe in 2012, Ishiba was appointed Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party on 26 September 2012, serving until 3 September 2014. The Secretary-General position is one of the most powerful within the LDP's organizational structure, responsible for party management, election strategy, and resource allocation. Ishiba's appointment to this role reflected his standing within the party despite his sometimes adversarial relationship with the party leadership.

In September 2014, Ishiba was appointed Minister in charge of Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy, a newly created portfolio under the Abe cabinet. He served in this position until August 2016, focusing on issues of regional revitalization that were of particular concern to representatives of rural constituencies like Tottori.

LDP Presidential Campaigns

Ishiba's career was defined in significant part by his persistent pursuit of the LDP presidency, the position that effectively determines Japan's prime minister given the party's dominance. He first ran for the party leadership in 2008, finishing fifth. His most consequential early challenge came in the 2012 LDP presidential election, when he ran against Shinzo Abe. Despite his criticisms of LDP factionalism, Ishiba established his own faction, known as Suigetsukai, in 2015, openly positioning himself as a future party leader.

He challenged Abe again in the 2018 LDP presidential election but was defeated. After Abe's resignation in 2020 due to health issues, Ishiba ran for the presidency once more but finished third behind Yoshihide Suga, who won with overwhelming support from party parliamentarians. In the 2021 election following Suga's own resignation, Ishiba declined to run and instead endorsed Taro Kono, though the election was won by Fumio Kishida.

Fifth Campaign and Election as LDP President

When Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would step down in 2024, Ishiba entered the LDP presidential race for the fifth time. In the September 2024 election, he defeated Sanae Takaichi in a second-round run-off, finally achieving the party leadership he had pursued for over a decade. As leader of the LDP, Ishiba became the prime minister–designate and was formally elected Prime Minister of Japan by the National Diet on 1 October 2024, succeeding Fumio Kishida.

Premiership

Ishiba's tenure as prime minister, which lasted from 1 October 2024 until 21 October 2025, was turbulent from the outset. Almost immediately after taking office, he announced a snap general election — a decision that proved politically costly. The ruling LDP-Komeito coalition lost its majority in the House of Representatives for the first time since 2009, suffering what was described as the party's second-worst result in its history.

The loss of the parliamentary majority forced Ishiba to govern as a minority government, relying on opposition parties to pass legislation through the National Diet. This weakened position constrained his policy agenda and left him politically vulnerable within his own party.

On foreign policy, Ishiba pursued several notable initiatives. He moved Japan economically closer to India and South Korea amidst protectionist trade policies being employed by the United States, seeking to diversify Japan's economic partnerships. He continued Japan's support for Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion that had begun in 2022, maintaining the stance of his predecessors on this issue. Ishiba also worked to secure a tariff deal with the United States, which NBC News reported he achieved before announcing his resignation.

Resignation

The final blow to Ishiba's premiership came with the 2025 House of Councillors election, in which the LDP-Komeito coalition lost its majority in the upper house as well, compounding the losses suffered in the lower house election. The result prompted growing calls within the LDP for Ishiba to take responsibility and resign.

On 7 September 2025, Ishiba announced his intention to step down as both Prime Minister and LDP President. The New York Times reported that his resignation plunged Japan into "deep political uncertainty" at a time of significant international challenges. NPR reported that Ishiba faced growing pressure from within his own party to take responsibility for the election losses.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies noted that Ishiba's resignation came in response to "mounting pressure within his Liberal" Democratic Party, characterizing his departure as a consequence of accumulated electoral failures rather than any single policy crisis.

Ishiba formally left office on 21 October 2025 and was succeeded as both Prime Minister and LDP President by Sanae Takaichi — the same politician he had defeated in the 2024 LDP presidential run-off.

Reuters, in its profile of Ishiba, characterized his political arc with a note of irony: he had taken over the ruling party "promising to revive it from scandal" but "less than a year later" was departing after voters had "frowned on" his leadership.

Personal Life

Ishiba has two children. He has represented Tottori Prefecture throughout his political career, maintaining deep ties to the rural western Honshu region where his family has roots. His father, Jirō Ishiba, served as governor of Tottori Prefecture, and the Ishiba family name carries significant political weight in the region.

Ishiba has maintained a public presence through various media, including a personal blog and a YouTube channel, through which he has communicated his political views and policy positions to the public.

Recognition

Ishiba's long career in Japanese politics earned him recognition as one of the LDP's most prominent internal critics and a persistent contender for the party's top leadership. His five campaigns for the LDP presidency — spanning from 2008 to 2024 — were without recent precedent in terms of persistence, and his eventual victory in 2024 was noted by international media as a significant political achievement after years of near-misses.

As a defense policy specialist, Ishiba was recognized as one of the most knowledgeable members of the Diet on security affairs. His tenure as Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency and later as Minister of Defense established him as a credible voice on Japan's security posture in East Asia. The Financial Times profiled his approach to defense and foreign policy during his political career.

His role in criticizing LDP factionalism while simultaneously participating in the factional system — establishing his own Suigetsukai faction in 2015 — drew commentary from political analysts both within Japan and internationally. The Wall Street Journal covered his factional activities and their implications for LDP internal politics.

Legacy

Ishiba's legacy in Japanese politics is shaped by his long tenure in the Diet, his contributions to defense policy, and his brief but eventful premiership. His nearly four-decade career in the House of Representatives, beginning in 1986, made him one of the most experienced legislators in modern Japanese politics. His persistent pursuit of the LDP presidency over five campaigns demonstrated both personal tenacity and the complexities of leadership selection within Japan's dominant political party.

As Prime Minister, Ishiba's decision to call a snap election shortly after taking office — which resulted in the LDP coalition losing its majority — is likely to be studied as a significant strategic miscalculation. The subsequent loss of the upper house majority in 2025, culminating in his resignation, marked one of the most turbulent periods for the LDP since its loss of power in 2009. The CSIS analysis of his departure noted the implications for Japanese political stability at a time of global uncertainty, particularly regarding trade relations with the United States and security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region.

His foreign policy initiatives — including efforts to strengthen economic ties with India and South Korea while managing the evolving trade relationship with the United States — represented an attempt to navigate Japan through an increasingly complex international environment. His achievement of a tariff deal with the United States before leaving office was noted as a significant, if late, accomplishment.

Ishiba's succession by Sanae Takaichi — the rival he had defeated just one year earlier in the LDP presidential election — underscored the rapid reversal of his political fortunes and the volatility of Japanese party politics during this period.