Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight and current minister for regional revitalization Shigeru Ishiba launched his own faction within the ruling party Sept. 28, with an eye toward succeeding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as the party's next president.
A total of 19 LDP lawmakers joined Ishiba's new faction, making it the sixth-biggest among the party's eight factions.
"I would like to draw up policies by looking 50 and 100 years into the future," Ishiba, 58, said at a Tokyo news conference. (The Japan Times)
自民党の石破茂地方創生相が9月28日、新派閥を結成し、安倍晋三首相の後継者を決める3年後の総裁選に名乗りを上げる考えを明らかにした。
The Japan Times ST: October 9, 2015