Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has taken the risky gamble of dissolving his Liberal Democratic Party faction in a bid to shore up rock-bottom public support for his Cabinet amid a political funds scandal.
Kishida's unilateral decision to dissolve the faction, known as Kochikai and established in 1957, led two other factions, including the one once headed by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to also decide to disband.
Meanwhile, voices of protests have risen from among members of two other factions, led respectively by LDP Vice President Taro Aso and Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi. If the two revolt, the Kishida administration's foundations will be shaken.