'Asian Nato' and nukes? Japan's next PM must steer through choppy waters

Four of the PM hopefuls regularly visit Yasukuni Shrine; two want Japan to arm itself with nukes

- Walter Sim

Japan Correspondent TOKYO - Four of Japan's nine prime minister hopefuls are regular visitors to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in a practice that, if the successful candidate continues, will throw a wrench into blossoming ties with South Korea while further chilling relations with China.

Two of the nine candidates argue that Japan should arm itself with nuclear weapons or submarines, while one is calling for an "Asian Nato", referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance of 30 European nations, as well as US and Canada.

Japan is seen as a reliable defender of the geopolitical status quo because it advocates for the rulesbased international order.

But how the country's 102nd prime minister engages with the rest of the world - friend or foe, advanced economies or the Global South will have important ramifications.

Former environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, 67, and incumbent Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, 63, are perceived as front runners in an election that remains wide open going into its Sept 27 finale.

Whoever wins the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) election, for which campaigning kicked off on Sept 12, must steer Japan through choppy geopolitical waters amid intensifying great power competition between the US, its security ally, and China, its largest trading partner.

He or she will also have to contend with a US election on the horizon, as well as simmering fears of a Taiwan conflict.

Political observers think that Japan will largely stay the same course charted by outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, given that all nine prime ministerial hopefuls agree on the need for Japan to strengthen its own defences and work closely with like-minded democracies.