Office of the Prime Minister
68 (February 4, 1957)
12 terms in House of Representatives [Lower House] (Tottori 1), Hereditary, LDP.
Past Positions: Minister for Regional Revitalization (Abe Cabinet). Minister of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (Aso Cabinet), Minister of Defense (Fukuda Cabinet), Director General of
Defense Agency (Minister of State, Koizumi Cabinet), LDP Secretary General (Abe
administration), Chairperson of LDP Policy Research Council (under LDP President Sadakazu
Tanigaki).
His LDP presidential campaign slogans were: “Protecting Japan” and “Protecting the people.” In
an exclusive September 25, 2024 article for the Hudson Institute, Ishiba said that his
administration “aims to contribute to regional security by strengthening the Japan-US alliance as
an “equal nation” on par with the US-UK alliance....It is my mission to raise the Japan-US
alliance to the level of the US-UK alliance.”
Keio University (1979). Ranked first in the All-Japan Legal Studies Student League in his
second year.
Worked for Mitsui Bank (currently Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) until 1983.
Protégé of Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and worked for the “Shadow Shogun’s” faction until
68 (February 4, 1957)
12 terms in House of Representatives [Lower House] (Tottori 1), Hereditary, LDP.
Past Positions: Minister for Regional Revitalization (Abe Cabinet). Minister of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries (Aso Cabinet), Minister of Defense (Fukuda Cabinet), Director General of
Defense Agency (Minister of State, Koizumi Cabinet), LDP Secretary General (Abe
administration), Chairperson of LDP Policy Research Council (under LDP President Sadakazu
Tanigaki).
His LDP presidential campaign slogans were: “Protecting Japan” and “Protecting the people.” In
an exclusive September 25, 2024 article for the Hudson Institute, Ishiba said that his
administration “aims to contribute to regional security by strengthening the Japan-US alliance as
an “equal nation” on par with the US-UK alliance....It is my mission to raise the Japan-US
alliance to the level of the US-UK alliance.”
Keio University (1979). Ranked first in the All-Japan Legal Studies Student League in his
second year.
Worked for Mitsui Bank (currently Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) until 1983.
Protégé of Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and worked for the “Shadow Shogun’s” faction until
he ran for the Diet in 1986.
In 2014, he turned down Prime Minister Abe’s offer to be Minister in charge of Security
Legislation, which irritated Abe as it suggested that he did not support Abe’s defense policies.
Ishiba’s subsequent criticism of the Prime Minister isolated him within the Abe-dominated LDP,
causing Ishiba’s faction to shrink. He was an outspoken opponent of many of Abe’s policies.
He calls himself a military otaku (obsessive person) who likes making plastic models of fighter
planes and warships and is also a “railway geek.”
In 2018 at a visit to the Kurayoshi Circular Theater Figure Museum (Kurayoshi, Tottori
Prefecture), he was asked to wear a Majin Buu [魔ま人じんブウ Majin Bū, literally Demon
Person Boo] cosplay costume. And he did, to the surprise of the museum curator who said “We
asked him to wear the costume in a semi-surprise way, but he accepted with a smile. He has a
soft side.”
Protestant, United Church of Christ. Sunday school teacher.
However, Ishiba is a member of the Jokokai, an association of 64 Diet members who are believers in the Jodo sect of Buddhism and he is recommended by the Jodo sect during elections.
Like many LDP Diet members, he is also a member of the Shinto Political League Diet Members' Conference (a nativist, animist Japanese belief). On August 24,2024, after visiting Watari Shrine in Yazu Town, Tottori Prefecture, he announced his candidacy for the LDP presidency in front of the shrine building, saying the following: "This is the land of my ancestors. When I was a child, we had summer festivals here. It was really lively. Children and the elderly were all smiling. Now there are no people here and the summer festivals are no longer held, but I want to bring back a lively Japan where everyone can live with a smile."
Well-known cat lover and whisperer. 🐈
Conservative Nationalist Parliamentary Leagues: Nippon Kaigi [Japan Conference], Shinto, Yasukuni, Unification Church connections.
>Foreign Policy adviser: Takashi Kawakami [川上高司], who advocates for the creation of an Asian version of NATO, is supported by Happy Science and was a faculty member at Happy Science University. (Happy Science is a Japanese "new religion" that is influential in the U.S. MAGA circles. It is a major funder of CPAC and client of Matt Schlapp. President Trump has spoken at their events and praised them.) Kawakami teaches at Takushoku University, a conservative stronghold. In 2022, he founded the Japan Society for Foreign Policy Studies.
Social Media
Official Site: https://www.ishiba.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ishibashigeru/
Twitter: https://x.com/shigeruishiba
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ishibashigeru/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ishibach
In 2014, he turned down Prime Minister Abe’s offer to be Minister in charge of Security
Legislation, which irritated Abe as it suggested that he did not support Abe’s defense policies.
Ishiba’s subsequent criticism of the Prime Minister isolated him within the Abe-dominated LDP,
causing Ishiba’s faction to shrink. He was an outspoken opponent of many of Abe’s policies.
He calls himself a military otaku (obsessive person) who likes making plastic models of fighter
planes and warships and is also a “railway geek.”
In 2018 at a visit to the Kurayoshi Circular Theater Figure Museum (Kurayoshi, Tottori
Prefecture), he was asked to wear a Majin Buu [魔ま人じんブウ Majin Bū, literally Demon
Person Boo] cosplay costume. And he did, to the surprise of the museum curator who said “We
asked him to wear the costume in a semi-surprise way, but he accepted with a smile. He has a
soft side.”
Protestant, United Church of Christ. Sunday school teacher.
However, Ishiba is a member of the Jokokai, an association of 64 Diet members who are believers in the Jodo sect of Buddhism and he is recommended by the Jodo sect during elections.
Like many LDP Diet members, he is also a member of the Shinto Political League Diet Members' Conference (a nativist, animist Japanese belief). On August 24,2024, after visiting Watari Shrine in Yazu Town, Tottori Prefecture, he announced his candidacy for the LDP presidency in front of the shrine building, saying the following: "This is the land of my ancestors. When I was a child, we had summer festivals here. It was really lively. Children and the elderly were all smiling. Now there are no people here and the summer festivals are no longer held, but I want to bring back a lively Japan where everyone can live with a smile."
Well-known cat lover and whisperer. 🐈
Conservative Nationalist Parliamentary Leagues: Nippon Kaigi [Japan Conference], Shinto, Yasukuni, Unification Church connections.
>Foreign Policy adviser: Takashi Kawakami [川上高司], who advocates for the creation of an Asian version of NATO, is supported by Happy Science and was a faculty member at Happy Science University. (Happy Science is a Japanese "new religion" that is influential in the U.S. MAGA circles. It is a major funder of CPAC and client of Matt Schlapp. President Trump has spoken at their events and praised them.) Kawakami teaches at Takushoku University, a conservative stronghold. In 2022, he founded the Japan Society for Foreign Policy Studies.
Social Media
Official Site: https://www.ishiba.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ishibashigeru/
Twitter: https://x.com/shigeruishiba
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ishibashigeru/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ishibach
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