Shigeru Ishiba

Member, House of Representatives; Prime Minister 2024-2025 Japan

Center-right

A lifetime hawk's last argument: build the deterrent quietly, delete Article 9's second clause eventually, and never, ever say out loud what Japan would do over Taiwan.

Community poll — liberal or conservative?

Liberal 567 (39%)(61%) 895 Conservative

Details — statements, goals & consistency record →

Most recent, with sources

Gave a long interview to Toyo Keizai published under the headline 'Can the country be defended by short-video politics that cannot even get people to listen to five minutes of talk?', questioning the precariousness of the Takaichi government's security policy and the state of Japanese national security debate.

2025-11-23Speech

What we would do in a Taiwan contingency is not something to be said out in the open. This is not about having said what you wanted to say. Nor is it about it being fine so long as approval ratings go up. Successive administrations have proceeded with the utmost care -- Japan-China relations are that delicate.

Source: Nikkei ↗