How possible successors stack up if Abe resigns

Please, not the insufferable Aso again. Please...

Aso . . . You must be kidding the guy doesn't open his mouth for more than four seconds without putting his own foot in it.

Why would anyone vote for these old cronies part of the same dodgey cabinet that has been responsible for several different scandals.

A bigger question is why you would vote for someone who is nearly 80 and incompetent, you wouldn't let your 80 year old parents or grandparents tell you how to run your life but you will let them run a country, half of them probably don't even know how to you use a smartphone properly.

You can't feel anything else but disheartened when you look at Japanese politics, its the same old club of scumbags that push for policies that benefit themselves or their big businesses counterparts.

They should clear the whole diet and start again.

You can't feel anything else but disheartened when you look at Japanese politics, its the same old club of scumbags that push for policies that benefit themselves or their big businesses counterparts.

They should clear the whole diet and start again.

Sadly, the new guard is not so very different from the old guard. IMO, the system of dynastic politics that permeates Japanese politics needs to be done away with before there can be real change, but that seems unlikely to happen.

Will it matter? The Brown Envelope Parade isn't going to stop, regardless of who gets the PM slot.

Why should an 80 year be in charge of a country?

The vultures are circling...

It reminds me of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again".

Meet the new boss,

Same as the old boss.

Anyone but Aso... but seriously they all are just rich old men that are looking to make their friends wealthy.

Aso does make you laugh though.

”¥1200 is reasonable for a cup of coffee”

”I admire hitler because he passed unpopular bills at 3am when everyone was sleeping”

”to save the economy old people should die quicker”

Term limits and mandatory retirement needed.

It seems Kono and Noda are the only candidates not affiliated with the revisionist Nippon Kaigi.

Term limits and mandatory retirement needed.

Age limits too please

Higher public works spending to fix inequality, huh. Don’t think I’ll be becoming an Ishiba fan anytime soon.

Do any of these hopefuls want to cut spending down to be remotely inline with tax revenues? I’d lobby my voting spouses’ vote for such a person. Japan needs to spend sanely, as if it is aware that there will be regular natural disasters and such. Not indebt the future taxpayers to the hilt.

It seems Kono and Noda are the only candidates not affiliated with the revisionist Nippon Kaigi.

You hit the nail on the head. And that's why I don't think either of them as a chance in hell of becoming PM

Age limits too please

There is...no young people.

There is...no young people.

I know, but we can at least make sure our politicians are under 70? Can't we at least aim for that?

Aso looks like that salaryman on the train in the morning with his breath smelling similar to coffee, natto, and cigarettes or cigars combined!

Or with his breath smelling similar to last night's alcohol, ramen, sweat, and cigarettes or cigars combined!

The vultures are circling...

For many people do not realize the deeper meaning of the statement. The vultures here, aside the Japanese cronies, are the foreign investors who brought and owned the Japanese politicians. These shadowy masters are mostly American and Chinese.

Just ask the last LDP bureaucrat got arrested for accepting the Chinese bribes, or how Abe torn down the agricultural protectionism of Japan to allow the hordes of cheap, unhealthy American agricultural goods flooding Japan.

Koizumi seems the least bad option. As he hasn't had a particularly long political career, he hasn't accumulated the long list of farces the others have.

He is probably the most progressive one out of all idiots here. Unfortunately, he might be too progressive for Japanese conservatives to support.

You hit the nail on the head. And that's why I don't think either of them as a chance in hell of becoming PM

This reminds me of Shinzo Abe's 2005 PM career. He actually confessed the idea of apologizing JP's war crimes and mending ties with Asian neighbors. Shinzo Abe actually had a plan of breaking Japan out of American dominance. Too bad, the conservatives accused him of being a traitor and voted him out. Shinzo Abe reluctantly joined the Nippon Kaigi and seeked their help for his masterplan. Shinzo Abe is striked me as an opportunistic pragmatist who loves to talk nationalist craps but acts differently from his statements.

Any politician in Japan is forced to become a fascist or an ultranationalist to stay alive in politics. Absolutely, they must be pro-West and pro-American. The USA prefers Japan being this way for easier control.

Need some fresh young blood ... so Aso it is

Anyone......other than Aso.

Anyone......other than Aso.

Not Aso, please!

SHIGERU ISHIBA

A critic of Abe

I like him already.

regularly tops surveys of lawmakers whom voters want to see as the next premier, but is less popular with the party's lawmakers.

Good. The current law makers are horrible.

The soft-spoken security maven has also held portfolios for agriculture and reviving local economies.

Things that we need.

He defeated Abe in the first round but lost in the second round when only MPs could vote.

Sounds fishy.

He has criticized the Bank of Japan's ultra-low interest rates for hurting regional banks and called for higher public works spending to remedy growing inequality.

Seems like this guy would be better than Abe. Well one armed blind koala could do better than Abe, but I digress.

shogun36Today  05:03 pm JST

He has criticized the Bank of Japan's ultra-low interest rates for hurting regional banks and called for higher public works spending to remedy growing inequality.

Seems like this guy would be better than Abe. Well one armed blind koala could do better than Abe, but I digress.

Yes, but higher public works spending? That's just a shameless bribe for over-represented yokels and good old boys out in the sticks.

I kind of want Ishiba, but I’m in the “ANYONE, but Aso!” Camp.

I want someone from Ishin to be PM. Can we get that?

It’s remarkable how Aso keeps such a luscious black head of hair at his age. Someone with such vibrant locks is just the man for the job.

Has there ever been an article about LDP leadership without the adjective ‘hawkish’ being thrown in?

I must say, I personally wish Aso will not become PM again.