Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a press conference at the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters in Tokyo on July 21, 2025. Philip Fong/Pool via Getty Images
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced on Sept. 7 that he is stepping down, following two election losses.
Ishiba first took office in October 2024 and has rejected calls from conservative members of his own party for weeks to step down, suggesting that doing so would open up Japan to a political vacuum while it faces critical challenges at home and abroad.
