Will Japan Get Its First Female Prime Minister? Candidates Leading the LDP Race

Japan will get its second prime minister in just over a year when the ruling Liberal Democratic Party holds a leadership election on Oct. 4. If one of the two candidates leading the opinion polls wins, the country could have either its first female prime minister or its youngest leader since World War II.

The new leader will replace outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was forced to resign after a historic upper house election loss in July. But whoever takes over will inherit the same challenges Ishiba faced: trying to pass legislation in a parliament where the LDP lacks a majority as a ruling party in both chambers for the first time since it was founded in 1955.