2008 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election

Political leadership election in Japan 2008 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election Japan 自民党Logo.svg legislative Caucus no 2007 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election 2007 2009 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election 2009 22 September 2008 LDP MPs Party members Total Tarō Asō 20100714 (cropped).jpg 120 120 150 0 0 F2BA42 Tarō Asō Fukuoka 8th 217 (56.51%) 134 (95.03%) 351 (66.86%) Kaoru Yosano 2008.jpg 120 120 150 0 0 CC0033 Kaoru Yosano Tokyo 1st 64 (16.67%) 2 (1.42%) 66 (12.57%) Yuriko_Koike_official_portrait.jpg 120 120 150 0 0 438C15 Yuriko Koike Tokyo 10th 46 (11.98%) 0 (0.00%) 46 (8.76%) Isihara Nobuteru 2012.jpg 120 120 150 0 0 9370DB Nobuteru Ishihara Tokyo 8th 36 (9.37%) 1 (0.71%) 37 (7.05%) Gates meets Ishiba 8 November 2007 cropped for Ishiba.jpg 120 120 150 0 0 0B75D9 Shigeru Ishiba Tottori 1st 21 (5.47%) 4 (2.84%) 25 (4.76%) President Yasuo Fukuda Tarō Asō thumb|230px|right|Headquarters of Liberal Democratic Party, at 22 September 2008. The 2008 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held on 22 September 2008 after the incumbent party leader and Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda announced that he would resign on 1 September 2008, only 11 months after taking office on 25 September 2007 following a leadership election on 23 September 2007. Tarō Asō, who had lost to Shinzo Abe in the 2006 leadership election and then again lost to Fukuda in 2007, was widely seen as the frontrunner to replace him,http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/01/asia/japan.php Japanese prime minister resigns - International Herald Tribune 2008-09-01 2008-09-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20080905064902/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/01/asia/japan.php dead and announced on 2 September 2008 he was ready to take over as party leader.BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Japan's Aso 'ready for PM role' Aso won the leadership election against four opponents, receiving 67% of the vote."Aso elected LDP head" https://web.archive.org/web/20080925213354/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080922dy04.htm 2008-09-25 , The Yomiuri Shimbun, 22 September 2008. It was reported that Yuriko Koike, a former defence chief who is seen as close to former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, might stand against Aso; in that case, the LDP leadership election would be a decision between the conservative traditionalist Aso and the unorthodox reformist Koike.AFP: Koike eyes bid as Japan's first woman PM https://web.archive.org/web/20110520164952/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iBMSSf5Mf84FR-i4fUh0NJ-gQV5A 2011-05-20 Economics minister Kaoru Yosano and former transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara, the son of the controversial right-wing nationalist governor of Tokyo Shintarō Ishihara, also indicated they might run,BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Japanese leadership race hots up as did former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba, senior vice foreign minister Ichita Yamamoto and former science and economic minister Yasufumi Tanahashi.Search - Global Edition - The New York Times Campaigning began on 10 September 2008; January 2010 a total of 528 people are eligible to vote (387 Diet members and 141 prefectural representatives).Ishihara, Yosano voice intentions to stand for LDP presidential election - People's Daily Online To stand in the election, candidates had to gather twenty signatures from electors. Aso formally declared his candidacy on 5 September 2008,Aso formally announces bid for Japan's ruling party presidency - People's Daily Online and Koike on 8 September 2008.Koike kandidiert für Amt des japanischen Regierungschefs (International, NZZ Online) Yosano, Ishiba and Ishihara also filed to run, while Yamamoto and Tanahashi decided not to stand for the leadership.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4721660.ece https://web.archive.org/web/20110918113803/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4721660.ece dead September 18, 2011 The Times & the Sunday TimesOfficial campaigning starts to choose new Japanese leader - People's Daily Online Koizumi announced he would support and vote for Koike.Japans Expremier Koizumi will eine Frau an der Macht - Politik - dieStandard.at › Politik By election day, Aso had secured the votes of at least 60% of the electors and was assumed to win the election in the first round.Aso zum LDP-Vorsitzenden gewählt - Japan - derStandard.at › International Aso went on to win the election by a landslide 351 votes. Yosano got 66 votes, Koike 46, Ishihara 37 and Ishiba 25.AFP.com - International News, Photos, Videos, Graphics, WorldDecember 2017 InternetArchiveBot yes Aso was sworn in as Prime Minister on 24 September 2008. Some speculated that a general election would be called on 3 October for 26 October 2008 following the leadership election, but this failed to materialise.Japan Election May Come by November, LDP Strategist Koga Says - Bloomberg.comFünf Kandidaten wollen glücklosen Regierungschef beerben - Japan - derStandard.at › InternationalJapan to dissolve lower house in October for November election - report - Forbes.comJapan's LDP Eyes Election as Early as Oct. 26, Yomiuri Says - Bloomberg.com Candidates Declared Candidate(s) Date of birth Current position Party faction Electoral district center|x120px Tarō Asō 1940 9 20 y(age 68)Member of the House of Representatives(1979–1983, since 1986) Previous offices held Minister for Foreign Affairs(2005–2007) Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications(2003–2005) Ikōkai (Asō) center|x30px Fukuoka 8th center|x120px Kaoru Yosano 1938 8 22 y(age 70) Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy(2005–2006, since 2008)Minister of State for Regulatory Reform (since 2008)Member of the House of Representatives(1976–1979, 1980–2000, since 2003) Previous offices held Minister State for Financial Services(2005–2006) None center|x30px Tokyo 1stcenter|x120px Yuriko Koike 1952 7 15 y(age 56) Member of the House of Representatives(since 1993) Previous offices held Minister of Defense(2007) Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs(2004–2006) Minister of the Environment(2003–2006) Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai (Machimura) center|x30px Tokyo 10th center|x120px Nobuteru Ishihara 1957 4 17 y(age 51) Member of the House of Representatives (since 1990) Previous offices held Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Policy Research Council (2007) Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism(2003–2004) Minister for Regulatory Reform(2001–2003)Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai (Yamasaki) center|x30px Tokyo 8th center|x120px Shigeru Ishiba 1957 2 4 y(age 51) Member of the House of Representatives(since 1986) Previous offices held Minister of Defense(2007–2008) Director-General of the Japan Defense Agency(2002–2004)Heisei Kenkyūkai (Tsushima) center|x30px Tottori 1st Supporters Recommenders Party regulations require candidates to have the written support at least 20 Diet members, known as recommenders, to run. Tarō Asōja:政治情報ノート　自民党総裁選 Political Information Notebook: LDP Presidential Election https://politics.free-active.com/note/ldp/ldp2008.htm 2026-05-17 ja ;Leader of recommenders Kunio Hatoyama (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukuoka 6th district) (Heiseiken) Campaign Manager Yoshinobu Shimamura (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 16th district) (no faction) Recommenders Akira Amari (Member of the House of Representatives for Kanagawa 13th district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Tomomi Inada (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukui 1st district) (Seiwakai) Akinori Eto (Member of the House of Representatives for Aomori 2nd district) (Banchōken) Yoshinori Ohno (Member of the House of Representatives for Kagawa 3rd district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Hiroshi Kajiyama (Member of the House of Representatives for Ibaraki 4th district) (no faction) Yoshitami Kameoka (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukushima 1st district) (Seiwakai) Yoshitada Konoike (Member of the House of Councillors from Hyōgo) (Ikōkai) Yoshihide Suga (Member of the House of Representatives for Kanagawa 2nd district) (Kōchikai) Sanae Takaichi (Member of the House of Representatives for Nara 2nd district) (Seiwakai) Minoru Terada (Member of the House of Representatives for Hiroshima 5th district) (Kōchikai) Shōichi Nakagawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Hokkaido 11th district) (Shisuikai) Kyoko Nishikawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukuoka 10th district) (Ikōkai) Yasukazu Hamada (Member of the House of Representatives for Chiba 12th district) (no faction) Hajime Funada (Member of the House of Representatives for Tochigi 1st district) (Heiseiken) Keiji Furuya (Member of the House of Representatives for Gifu 5th district) (Shisuikai) Tomoyoshi Watanabe (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukuoka 4th district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Shinya Izumi (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Atarashii Nami ja 新しい波 (派閥)) Shinsuke Suematsu (Member of the House of Councillors from Hyōgo) (Seiwakai) Kaoru Yosano ;Leader of recommenders Takeshi Noda (Member of the House of Representatives for Kumamoto 2nd district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Campaign Manager Hakuo Yanagisawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Shizuoka 3rd district) (Kōchikai) Recommenders Toshiko Abe (Member of the House of Representatives for Chūgoku PR block) (no faction) Nobuhiro Omiya (Member of the House of Representatives for Southern Kanto PR block) (no faction) Masazumi Gotoda (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokushima 3rd district) (Heiseiken) Taizō Sugimura (Member of the House of Representatives for Southern Kanto PR block) (no faction) Koichi Tani (Member of the House of Representatives for Hyōgo 5th district) (Shisuikai) Tatsuya Tanimoto (Member of the House of Representatives for Wakayama 1st district) (Seiwakai) Gen Nakatani (Member of the House of Representatives for Kōchi 2nd district) (Kōchikai) Norio Mitsuya (Member of the House of Representatives for Mie 5th district) (Kōchikai) Seiichiro Murakami (Member of the House of Representatives for Ehime 2nd district) (Banchōken) Yoshitaka Murata (Member of the House of Representatives for Okayama 5th district) (Kōchikai) Kenji Wakamiya (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo PR block) (Heiseiken) Tokio Kano (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Kōchikai) Yoriko Kawaguchi (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (no faction) Yoshimasa Hayashi (Member of the House of Councillors from Yamaguchi) (Kōchikai) Kazuya Maruyama (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (no faction) Masako Mori (Member of the House of Councillors from Fukushima) (Seiwakai) Hiromi Yoshida (Member of the House of Councillors from Nagano) (Heiseiken) Masashi Waki (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Heiseiken) Yuriko Koike ;Leader of recommenders Seishirō Etō (Member of the House of Representatives for Ōita 2nd district) (Seiwakai) Campaign Manager Seiken Sugiura (Member of the House of Representatives for Aichi 12th district) (Seiwakai) Recommenders Kyoko Izawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Kinki PR block) (Kōchikai) Kuniko Inoguchi (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo PR block) (no faction) Jiro Ono (Member of the House of Representatives for Southern Kanto PR block) (no faction) Shinsuke Okuno (Member of the House of Representatives for Nara 2nd district) (Seiwakai) Tsukasa Kobiki (Member of the House of Representatives for Hyōgo 8th district) (Seiwakai) Yukari Sato (Member of the House of Representatives for Tōkai PR block) (no faction) Yosuke Shinoda (Member of the House of Representatives for Tōkai PR block) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Yaichi Tanigawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Nagasaki 3rd district) (Seiwakai) Takashi Tanihata (Member of the House of Representatives for Osaka 14th district) (Seiwakai) Yasuhide Nakayama (Member of the House of Representatives for Osaka 4th district) (Seiwakai) Akihiro Nishimura (Member of the House of Representatives for Miyagi 3rd district) (Seiwakai) Hiroshi Hase (Member of the House of Representatives for Ishikawa 1st district) (Seiwakai) Chuko Hayakawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Saitama 4th district) (Seiwakai) Takuya Hirai (Member of the House of Representatives for Kagawa 1st district) (Kōchikai) Junichiro Yasui (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo PR block) (Atarashii Nami ja 新しい波 (派閥)) Yoshimi Watanabe (Member of the House of Representatives for Tochigi 3rd district) (no faction) Shinobu Kandori (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (no faction) Hiroyuki Yoshiie (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Seiwakai) Nobuteru Ishihara ;Leader of recommenders Takashi Fukaya (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 2nd district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Campaign Manager Kisaburo Tokai (Member of the House of Representatives for Hyōgo 10th district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Recommenders Osamu Ashitomi (Member of the House of Representatives for Kyushu PR block) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Shigeo Omae (Member of the House of Representatives for Hyōgo 7th district) (no faction) Kazuyoshi Kaneko (Member of the House of Representatives for Gifu 4th district) (Kōchikai) Ben Kimura (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 15th district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Fumio Kishida (Member of the House of Representatives for Hiroshima 1st district) (Kōchikai) Takashi Kosugi (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 5th district) (no faction) Shigeyuki Goto (Member of the House of Representatives for Nagano 4th district) (no faction) Yasuhisa Shiozaki (Member of the House of Representatives for Ehime 1st district) (Kōchikai) Isshu Sugawara (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 9th district) (no faction) Ryotaro Tanose (Member of the House of Representatives for Nara 4th district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Takumi Nemoto (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukushima 2nd district) (Kōchikai) Katsuei Hirasawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 17th district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Mineyuki Fukuda (Member of the House of Representatives for Southern Kanto PR block) (no faction) Midori Matsushima (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 14th district) (Seiwakai) Fumiaki Matsumoto (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 7th district) (Seiwakai) Tsukasa Akimoto (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Shisuikai) Masaharu Nakagawa (Member of the House of Councillors from Tokyo) (Seiwakai) Tamayo Marukawa (Member of the House of Councillors from Tokyo) (Seiwakai) Shigeru Ishiba ;Leader of recommenders Ichiro Kamoshita (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 13th district) (Heiseiken) Campaign Manager Kenji Kosaka (Member of the House of Representatives for Nagano 1st district) (Heiseiken) Recommenders Ryosei Akazawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Tottori 2nd district) (no faction) Tatsuya Ito (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 22nd district) (Heiseiken) Hiroshi Imazu (Member of the House of Representatives for Hokkaido PR block) (Heiseiken) Yuko Obuchi (Member of the House of Representatives for Gunma 5th district) (Heiseiken) Takashi Ōtsuka (Member of the House of Representatives for Osaka 8th district) (Heiseiken) Nobuko Okashita (Member of the House of Representatives for Osaka 17th district) (Heiseiken) Yoshiro Okamoto (Member of the House of Representatives for Shikoku PR block) (Heiseiken) Takahide Kimura (Member of the House of Representatives for Aichi 5th district) (Heiseiken) Masatoshi Kurata (Member of the House of Representatives for Tōkai PR block) (Heiseiken) Wataru Takeshita (Member of the House of Representatives for Shimane 2nd district) (Heiseiken) Naomi Tokashiki (Member of the House of Representatives for Osaka 7th district) (Heiseiken) Kosaburo Nishime (Member of the House of Representatives for Okinawa 4th district) (Heiseiken) Gaku Hashimoto (Member of the House of Representatives for Chūgoku PR block) (Heiseiken) Takeshi Hayashida (Member of the House of Representatives for Kyushu PR block) (Heiseiken) Kenji Harada ja 原田憲治 (Member of the House of Representatives for Osaka 9th district) (Heiseiken) Hiroshi Hiraguchi (Member of the House of Representatives for Hiroshima 2nd district) (Heiseiken) Masahisa Sato (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Heiseiken) Kotaro Tamura (Member of the House of Councillors from Tottori) (Heiseiken) Number of recommenders by factions CandidatesTarō AsōKaoru YosanoYuriko KoikeNobuteru IshiharaShigeru IshibaAtarashii Nami ja 新しい波 (派閥)10100Banchō Seisaku Kenkyūjo11000Heisei Kenkyūkai240019Ikōkai20000Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai31160Kōchikai26240Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai421140Shisuikai21010No faction35551 Results + Full resultCandidateDiet membersParty membersTotal points Votes % Popular votes % Allocated votes % Votes %Tarō Asō red 当21756.51% 13495.03% 35166.86 00b13866.86%Kaoru Yosano6416.67% 21.42% 6612.57 00b13812.57%Yuriko Koike4611.98% 00.00% 468.76 00b1388.76%Nobuteru Ishihara369.37% 10.71% 377.05 00b1387.05%Shigeru Ishiba215.47% 42.84% 254.76 00b1384.76%Total384100.00%141100.00%525100.00%Valid votes38499.48%141100.00%52599.62%Invalid and blank votes20.52%00.00%20.38%Turnout386100.00%141100.00%527100.00%Registered voters386100.00%141100.00%527100.00% Results of Party Members' Votes by Prefectures + Results of Party Members' Votes by Prefecturesja:松本潤 - 自民党総裁選挙2008アーカイブ Jun Matsumoto - LDP Presidential Election 2008 Archive https://jun.or.jp/electionLDPsousai/2008-LDPsousaisen.htm 2026-05-17 jaPrefecturesTarō AsōShigeru IshibaKaoru YosanoNobuteru IshiharaYuriko KoikeVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Aichi30000Akita30000Aomorija:2008年自由民主党総裁選挙における青森県の結果について Regarding the results for Aomori Prefecture in the 2008 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election https://archive.org/details/2008_20251107/mode/2up Internet Archive 2025-10-28 2026-07-10 ja4,91575.9532604.0202323.5905147.9405508.500Chibatake-all Winner take all delegates.30000Ehime30000Fukui30000Fukuokatake-all30000Fukushima30000Gifutake-all30000Gunmatake-all30000Hiroshima30000Hokkaido30000Hyōgo30000Ibarakitake-all30000Ishikawa30000Iwatetake-all30000Kagawa30000Kagoshima30000Kanagawatake-all30000Kōchi20100Kumamoto30000Kyoto30000Mie30000Miyagi30000Miyazakitake-all30000Naganotake-all30000Nagasaki30000Nara20010Niigatatake-all30000Ōitatake-all30000Okayama30000Okinawa30000Osaka30000Saga30000Saitamatake-all30000Shiga30000Shimane21000Shizuoka30000Tochigi30000Tokushima20100Tokyotake-all30000Tottoritake-all03000Toyama30000Wakayamatake-all30000Yamagata30000Yamaguchitake-all30000Yamanashi30000Total1344210 References Liberal 2008 Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) presidential election Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) presidential election