Three months after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down in Nara, the faction he led, the Liberal Democratic Party's largest, is set to choose a new leader next week.
The current front-runner is veteran Lower House lawmaker Ryu Shionoya. But whether Shionoya can win the support of the 97-member faction, especially over its younger members, could determine whether it remains the party’s largest or splinters into smaller groups.
Thus, the future of the faction could change the political dynamics within the ruling LDP.