TOPSHOT-JAPAN-POLITICS-VOTE-LDP

TOPSHOT - Candidates for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) presidential election (from L-R), Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, former chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato, Digital Minister Taro Kono, former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, and LDP secretary general Toshimitsu Motegi stand together onstage before a debate at the Nixon Kisha Club in Tokyo on September 14, 2024. Whoever wins the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership vote on September 27 will succeed unpopular Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose three-year term was tarnished by scandals and unease over rising prices. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)