TOKYO -- Japan's newly installed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is hoping to implement his concept of "new Japanese capitalism" under which he ran his campaign to be leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. While he has vowed to change the neoliberal policies left in place by his predecessors, it is unclear exactly what kind of reform he is aiming for.
He noted that while deregulation and structural reforms since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi have led to economic growth, they have also created inequality and social division. Kishida wants to implement a "Reiwa income-doubling plan," referring to the current Reiwa era under Emperor Naruhito and the 1960 income-doubling plan of former Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda.
