Takaichi Launches Bid for LDP Leadership, Pledges Tax Cuts, Cash Payments

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:03 JST, September 19, 2025

Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, 64, held a press conference at the Diet on Friday afternoon and formally announced her candidacy for the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election.

The election campaigning period will begin on Monday, with voting and counting to take place on Oct. 4.

“Japan faces major crises both internally and externally,” Takaichi said at the press conference, citing rising prices, the impact of U.S. tariff measures on the domestic economy and the increasing frequency of natural disasters. “What we need to overcome this enormous crisis is a type of politics that transforms our anxieties about daily life and the future into dreams and hope.”

She outlined her policies, including a “tax credit with cash benefits” — in which tax cuts are combined with cash payments — and the abolition of the provisional gasoline tax rate.

She also expressed her intention to strengthen investment in cutting-edge technologies such as space exploration and nuclear fusion.

This marks Takaichi’s third bid for the party leadership, having run in the previous two elections. In September 2024, she finished first in the initial vote but eventually lost to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the runoff.

Meanwhile, former digital transformation minister Taro Kono, who ran in the last election, told reporters in Tokyo on Friday morning that he would not run this time. He instead clarified his support for Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 44, who has already declared his candidacy.

“When considering who is best suited to rebuild the party from scratch, Koizumi is the most appropriate,” Kono said.

Former LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi, 69, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 50, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 64, have already declared their candidacies.