Former Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Sunday he will run for president of the Liberal Democratic Party, which was decimated in last month's general election with lame-duck Prime Minister Taro Aso at the helm.
"I have decided to sacrifice myself to revitalize the party," Tanigaki said.
Tanigaki, 64, is the first to reveal he intends to run in the Sept. 28 race.
The election will pick the successor to Aso, who is to step down as party president Wednesday just before Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, is voted in as prime minister.
Farm minister Shigeru Ishiba and Taro Kono, the son of former LDP President Yohei Kono, are possible contenders, although they have yet to reveal their intentions.
Meanwhile, LDP Deputy Secretary General Nobuteru Ishihara, 52, a son of Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, said Sunday he will not be running.
"I want to support the party's renewal at this time by keeping my feet firmly on the ground," he said.
Tanigaki made an unsuccessful bid in the September 2006 race, finishing behind Shinzo Abe, who won the race and became prime minister, and Aso.
The former finance minister did gain support from some party members, however, due partly to his pledge to restore the nation's fiscal health through a plan to hike the consumption tax to 10 percent from the current 5 percent.
