Ishiba, a straight-talking former defense minister, will take office on Tuesday when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his cabinet ministers resign and Ishiba is elected his successor by members of the LDP-controlled parliament. He is also contending with a complicated security environment in the Asia-Pacific region, where the U.S. has been strengthening ties with Japan and other allies in an effort to counter China’s growing power. After no candidate received a majority in the first round of voting, Ishiba won in a runoff against economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, 63, who would have been Japan’s first female prime minister. This was Ishiba’s fifth time running for party leader. In addition to being a realist, Ishiba is also an idealist who has never been tainted by scandal, Cucek said.

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Persons: Shigeru Ishiba, Fumio Kishida, Ishiba, Hiro Komae, Kishida, Kishida “, ” Ishiba, Sanae Takaichi, Takaichi, ”, Michael Cucek, Cucek, ” Cucek, “, Lin Jian, Lin, Arata Yamamoto, Jennifer Jett Organizations: Liberal Democratic Party, LDP, Liberal Democratic Party’s, Getty, Temple University, NATO, U.S, Yasukuni, Foreign Ministry Locations: TOKYO, U.S, Ishiba, Asia, Pacific, Japan, North Korea, Tokyo, AFP, United States, Japanese, Tottori, South Korea, Philippines, Australia, China, Taiwan, Beijing, East Asia, Phuket, Thailand