Campaign Policies: Diplomacy and Security
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba upheld his personal policies in the presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party in September. While the LDP included one of them, revision of Japan-U.S. State of Forces Agreement, in the campaign policies in the campaign policies, as saying “We seek Japan-U.S. SOFA as it should be,” it dropped creating Asian version of NATO that received skepticism from U.S. and Asian countries. Ishiba basically succeeds security policies from his predecessor, Fumio Kishida. The LDP campaign policy package includes commitment on the Three Security Documents – National Security Strategy of Japan, National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program – which were approved by Kishida administration in December, 2022. Kishida started building up defense budget, adding 43 trillion yen through 2023 to 2027. While some LDP presidential candidates argued that the budget could be raised without additional taxation, Ishiba does not deny Kishida’s policy with rise of in