2007 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election

Political leadership election in Japan 2007 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election Japan 自民党Logo.svg legislative Caucus no 2006 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election 2006 2008 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election 2008 23 September 2007 LDP MPs Party members Total Yasuo Fukuda cropped Yasuo Fukuda 200709.jpg 120 120 150 0 0 438C15 Yasuo Fukuda Gunma 4th 254 (65.80%) 76 (53.90%) 330 (62.62%) Tarō Asō 20100714 (cropped).jpg 120 120 150 0 0 F2BA42 Tarō Asō Fukuoka 8th 132 (34.20%) 65 (46.10%) 197 (37.38%) President Shinzō Abe Yasuo Fukuda The 2007 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held on 23 September 2007 after the incumbent party leader and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe announced that he would resign on 12 September 2007."Japan's ruling party decides date to pick Abe's successor", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), September 13, 2007. Abe had only been elected to the post slightly less than a year earlier; his resignation came only three days after a new parliamentary session had begun. Abe said his unpopularity was hindering the passage of an anti-terrorism law, involving among other things Japan's continued military presence in Afghanistan. Party officials also said the embattled Prime Minister was suffering from poor health."Hospital said Abe "extremely weak"", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), September 13, 2007."Abe in hospital after resignation", Al Jazeera, September 13, 2007. Fukuda defeated Asō in the election, receiving 330 votes against 197 votes for Asō."Fukuda Chosen to Replace Abe as Japan's Prime Minister" https://web.archive.org/web/20080820033055/http://voanews.com/english/2007-09-23-voa5.cfm August 20, 2008 , VOA News, September 23, 2007."Fukuda wins LDP race / Will follow in footsteps of father as prime minister", The Daily Yomiuri, September 23, 2007. Since the LDP had an absolute majority in the lower house, Fukuda became Prime Minister on 25 September 2007. His principal rival, Tarō Asō, later succeeded him as prime minister after Fukuda's resignation in September 2008. Campaign Aso conceded on 16 September 2007 that he was unlikely to win the race and stated he was primarily continuing as a candidate to give party members a choice."New favourite in Japan's PM race", BBC News, 16 September 2007. Fukuda had by that date gathered the official support of eight factions of the LDP, all except Aso's own faction; he furthermore stated he would not visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine,"Fukuda pledges not to visit Yasukuni shrine if elected new PM", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), September 16, 2007. and proposed the construction of a secular national memorial facility instead. Aso stated that there could be no replacement for the shrine, but did not state whether he would visit the shrine if elected."Japan's ruling party presidential candidates introduce similar policy platforms", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), September 16, 2007. Fukuda struck a more conciliatory tone in relation to the North Korean abduction issue, while Aso positioned himself as a hardliner."Both candidates to become Japan's prime minister start campaigns", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), September 17, 2007. According to media surveys, Fukuda had 213 of the lawmakers on his side, while Aso had the assured support of 45 Diet members."Japan's ruling party election to affect domestic, foreign policy", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), September 20, 2007. Observers agreed that Fukuda was almost certain to win due to the widespread support across faction borders he had obtained.Hisane Masaki, "Fukuda heads Japan's leadership race", Asia Times Online, September 15, 2007. Fukuda received 330 votes in the election, held on 23 September, defeating Asō, who received 197 votes. The support from Diet members alone was enough for Fukuda to win the leadership in the first round."Fukuda wins wide support, upper hand in premiership race with Aso"November 2018 InternetArchiveBot yes , Kyodo News, September 14, 2007. Candidates Endorsement by at least twenty LDP lawmakers is necessary to become a candidate in the election. Since there are 387 LDP Diet members and 141 prefectural LDP representatives (three for each of the 47 prefectural chapters), there is a total of 528 votes."Japanese senior politician Fukuda enjoys lead in ruling party presidential rivalry", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), September 14, 2007. The following people were candidates in the election: Declared Candidate(s) Date of birth Current position Party faction Electoral districtcenter|x120px Yasuo Fukuda 1936 7 16 y(age 71) Member of the House of Representatives(since 1990) Previous offices held Chief Cabinet Secretary(2000-2004) Minister of State for Gender Equality(2001–2004) Director-General of the Okinawa Development Agency(2000) Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai (Machimura) center|x30px Gunma 4th center|x120px Tarō Asō 1940 9 20 y(age 67) Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party(since 2007)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 Declined People who were considered likely candidates, but refused to seek the nomination, were: Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Abe's immediate predecessor, was also considered a possible candidate, but declined to seek the nomination. He expressed his support for Fukuda on 14 September 2007."Koizumi 'to support Fukuda'", Yomiuri Shimbun, September 14, 2007. The incumbent Minister of Finance Fukushiro Nukaga initially stated on 13 September 2007 he would run,"Japan's finance minister to run for PM", Forbes, September 13, 2007.Keiichi Yamamura and Sachiko Sakamaki, "Aso, Nukaga to Run for Japan Prime Minister's Post", Bloomberg.com, September 13, 2007. but decided to support Fukuda on 14 September 2007 after he had a 40-minute meeting with him."Japan's finance chief not to run for ruling party president", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), September 14, 2007. Sadakazu Tanigaki, a former Minister of Finance under Junichiro Koizumi,"Possible contenders"June 2021 medicmedic, The Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2007. and Taku Yamasaki, a former LDP Secretary General and the third candidate in the 2006 leadership election, both announced their support for Fukuda on 14 September 2007, as did former LDP Secretary General Makoto Koga."LDP presidential race will be head-on clash between Fukuda, Aso"December 2017 InternetArchiveBot yes , Mainichi Daily News, September 14, 2007. Kaoru Yosano, the incumbent Chief Cabinet Secretary, was also considered a likely candidate,"Japanese PM admitted to hospital", BBC News, September 13, 2007. but did not stand. Supporters Recommenders Party regulations require candidates to have the written support at least 20 Diet members, known as recommenders, to run. Yasuo Fukudaja: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/ldp2007.htm 2026-05-17 ja ;Leader of recommenders Seiko Hashimoto (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (Seiwakai) Campaign Manager Yūji Tsushima (Member of the House of Representatives for Aomori 1st district) (Heiseiken) Recommenders Ichiro Aisawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Okayama 1st district) (Yūrinkai ja 有隣会) Ichiro Ichikawa (Member of the House of Councillors from Miyagi) (Shin Zaisei Kenkyūkai ja 新財政研究会) Hiromi Iwanaga (Member of the House of Councillors from Saga) (Heiseiken) Kazuyoshi Kaneko (Member of the House of Representatives for Gifu 4th district) (Shin Zaisei Kenkyūkai) Yoriko Kawaguchi (Member of the House of Councillors from National PR block) (no faction) Shigeo Kitamura (Member of the House of Representatives for Ishikawa 3rd district) (Seiwakai) Takashi Sasagawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Gunma 2nd district) (Heiseiken) Hirofumi Nakasone (Member of the House of Councillors from Gunma) (Shisuikai) Taro Nakayama (Member of the House of Representatives for Osaka 18th district) (no faction) Takeshi Noda (Member of the House of Representatives for Kumamoto 2nd district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Kyogon Hagiyama (Member of the House of Representatives for Hokuriku-Shin'etsu PR block) (Shisuikai) Takashi Fukaya (Member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo 2nd district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Kenshiro Matsunami (Member of the House of Representatives for Kinki PR block) (Atarashii Nami ja 新しい波 (派閥)) Yoichi Miyazawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Hiroshima 7th district) (Shin Zaisei Kenkyūkai) Seiichiro Murakami (Member of the House of Representatives for Ehime 2nd district) (Banchōken) Yoshirō Mori (Member of the House of Representatives for Ishikawa 2nd district) (Seiwakai) Yoshio Yatsu (Member of the House of Representatives for Gunma 3rd district) (Shisuikai) Toshio Yamauchi (Member of the House of Councillors from Kagawa) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Tarō Asō ;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) Hiroshi Imai (Member of the House of Representatives for Saitama 3rd district) (Shin Zaisei Kenkyūkai ja 新財政研究会) Nobuhiko Endō (Member of the House of Representatives for Kyushu PR block) (no faction) Chubee Kagita (Member of the House of Representatives for Kinki PR block) (Shisuikai) Yoshitada Konoike (Member of the House of Councillors from Hyōgo) (Ikōkai) Manabu Sakai (Member of the House of Representatives for Kanagawa 5th district) (no faction) Kazuyasu Shiina (Member of the House of Councillors from Chiba) (Shisuikai) Yoshihide Suga (Member of the House of Representatives for Kanagawa 2nd district) (Shin Zaisei Kenkyūkai) Ryota Takeda (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukuoka 11th district) (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai) Tōru Toida (Member of the House of Representatives for Hyōgo 11th district) (Heiseiken) Shōichi Nakagawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Hokkaido 11th district) (Shisuikai) Keiko Nagaoka (Member of the House of Representatives for Northern Kanto PR block) (Ikōkai) Kyoko Nishikawa (Member of the House of Representatives for Fukuoka 10th district) (Shisuikai) Yasukazu Hamada (Member of the House of Representatives for Chiba 12th district) (no faction) Tatsuharu Mawatari (Member of the House of Representatives for Tōkai PR block) (Heiseiken) Yoji Muto (Member of the House of Representatives for Gifu 3rd district) (Ikōkai) Taimei Yamaguchi (Member of the House of Representatives for Saitama 10th district) (Heiseiken) Rokuzaemon Yoshida (Member of the House of Representatives for Hokuriku-Shin'etsu PR block) (Shisuikai) Number of recommenders by factions CandidatesYasuo FukudaTarō AsōAtarashii Nami ja 新しい波 (派閥)10Banchō Seisaku Kenkyūjo10Heisei Kenkyūkai34Ikōkai03Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai32Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai30Shin Zaisei Kenkyūkai ja 新財政研究会32Shisuikai35Yūrinkai ja 有隣会10No faction24 Results + Full resultCandidateDiet membersParty membersTotal points Votes % Popular votes % Allocated votes % Votes %Yasuo Fukuda red 当25465.80% 7653.90%33062.62 00b13862.62%Tarō Asō13234.20% 6546.10%19737.38 00b13837.38%Total386100.00%141100.00%527100.00%Valid votes38699.74%141100.00%52799.81%Invalid and blank votes10.26%00.00%10.19%Turnout387100.00%141100.00%528100.00%Registered voters387100.00%141100.00%528100.00% Results of Party Members' Votes by Prefectures + Results of Party Members' Votes by Prefecturesja:松本潤 - 自民党総裁選挙2007アーカイブ Jun Matsumoto - LDP Presidential Election 2007 Archive https://jun.or.jp/electionLDPsousai/2007-LDPsousaisen.htm 2026-05-17 jaPrefecturesYasuo FukudaTarō AsōVotes%Votes%Aichi12Akita12Aomori12Chibatake-all Winner take all delegates.03Ehimetake-all03Fukui21Fukuokaexecutive Executive decision.No votes0No votes3FukushimaexecutiveNo votes2No votes1Gifurepresentative Representative vote.21GunmaexecutiveNo votes3No votes0Hiroshimarepresentative30Hokkaido21Hyōgo12IbarakiexecutiveNo votes0No votes3Ishikawa21Iwate12Kagawa12Kagoshimatake-all30Kanagawatake-all03Kōchi12Kumamoto21Kyoto21Mie21Miyagi12Miyazaki12Naganotake-all30Nagasakirepresentative12Nara21Niigatarepresentative03Ōitatake-all03Okayama21Okinawarepresentative30Osaka12Saga12Saitamatake-all30Shiga21Shimanerepresentative30Shizuoka12Tochigitake-all30Tokushima21Tokyotake-all03Tottorirepresentative21Toyamatake-all30Wakayamatake-all30Yamagata21YamaguchiexecutiveNo votes3No votes0Yamanashi21Total7665 References Category:2007 elections in Japan 2007 Category:September 2007 in Japan Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) presidential election