, Columnist
Japan’s Leader Has Lost His ‘Mandate of Heaven’
Shigeru Ishiba is clinging on to power after the latest rebuke from the electorate. With crucial trade talks on the line, it’s time for him to go.
Ishiba must listen to the electorate.
Photographer: Toru Hanai/BloombergShigeru Ishiba was long considered an outside prospect to become Japan’s leader — so much so that he once said it would take the involvement of the gods themselves.
“If I were ever to become prime minister, it would probably be when the Liberal Democratic Party or Japan was in serious deadlock,” he wrote in his book published last year. “Unless I receive a mandate of heaven, it’s unlikely to happen.”