TOKYO -- On Oct. 26, five days before Japan's lower house elections, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was in Higashimurayama, a Tokyo suburb, stumping for Seiji Kihara, his closest confidant. "Please help Kihara-san, whom I trust more than anyone else, win in the election," Kishida implored voters, lavishing praise on the deputy chief cabinet secretary, who was standing beside him.
Previous LDP leadership elections taught Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara that being a former elite bureaucrat well-versed in policy issues does not make one a strong candidate to be prime minister.
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