The race to choose the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party begins next month. Under Japan's parliamentary Cabinet system, the head of the majority party in the Diet is selected as prime minister. Just like the presidential election in the United States, the election of the LDP chief to a three-year term will effectively choose Japan's leader for the coming three years.
What then are the key issues at stake in the race? From a long-term viewpoint of national strategy, the most important items on the agenda should be reversing Japan's population decline and rebuilding the government's fiscal health.
Historically speaking, I do not know of any country, region or civilization that has prospered with a falling population. Among the advanced nations of the world, the combined trends of an aging population with fewer births is progressing most acutely in Japan. We need to have a greater sense of crisis over the declining population.