For the winner of a party leadership vote Wednesday to pick Japan’s third pandemic-era prime minister, an arduous task awaits on the economy.
Getting the country past the virus will be job No. 1, requiring a road map for reopening after the latest virus emergency ends this week and more stimulus to woo voters before national elections this fall.
Then comes the harder part: boosting innovation and tackling other long-simmering problems that have eroded Japan’s prosperity and made it the slowest growing nation in the Group of Seven.