Ishiba Shigeru will become Japan’s next prime minister

IN JAPANESE POLITICS, the fifth time’s the charm. At least that is the case for Ishiba Shigeru, a maverick from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He defeated eight colleagues to win his fifth bid for party leadership on September 27th. This means he will become Japan’s prime minister when he is sworn in next week. Mr Ishiba had come second to Takaichi Sanae, a hard-right nationalist, in a first round of voting. But he eked out victory in a second-round run-off, as lawmakers who opposed Ms Takaichi consolidated behind him. After the result was declared, he promised to be a leader who would “speak the truth with courage and sincerity”.